diff --git a/src/conf/nwfilter_ipaddrmap.c b/src/conf/nwfilter_ipaddrmap.c
index 9cbad49c747e50842da31e8e47ec7fb35fdf12d2..4bb6775e2c926e02e882963cefc377aa28c59d32 100644
--- a/src/conf/nwfilter_ipaddrmap.c
+++ b/src/conf/nwfilter_ipaddrmap.c
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 
 #define VIR_FROM_THIS VIR_FROM_NWFILTER
 
-static virMutex ipAddressMapLock;
+static virMutex ipAddressMapLock = VIR_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
 static virNWFilterHashTablePtr ipAddressMap;
 
 
@@ -147,11 +147,6 @@ virNWFilterIPAddrMapInit(void)
     if (!ipAddressMap)
         return -1;
 
-    if (virMutexInit(&ipAddressMapLock) < 0) {
-        virNWFilterIPAddrMapShutdown();
-        return -1;
-    }
-
     return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/lxc/lxc_controller.c b/src/lxc/lxc_controller.c
index 1d3a74b33d47c0b21d689888713c71f70d3ad741..c05dfec6428cad927cd5751004a4f3afc67899de 100644
--- a/src/lxc/lxc_controller.c
+++ b/src/lxc/lxc_controller.c
@@ -823,7 +823,7 @@ static int lxcControllerClearCapabilities(void)
 }
 
 static bool wantReboot = false;
-static virMutex lock;
+static virMutex lock = VIR_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
 
 
 static void virLXCControllerSignalChildIO(virNetServerPtr server,
@@ -1108,9 +1108,6 @@ static int virLXCControllerMain(virLXCControllerPtr ctrl)
     int rc = -1;
     size_t i;
 
-    if (virMutexInit(&lock) < 0)
-        goto cleanup2;
-
     if (virNetServerAddSignalHandler(ctrl->server,
                                      SIGCHLD,
                                      virLXCControllerSignalChildIO,
@@ -1164,9 +1161,6 @@ static int virLXCControllerMain(virLXCControllerPtr ctrl)
         rc = wantReboot ? 1 : 0;
 
  cleanup:
-    virMutexDestroy(&lock);
- cleanup2:
-
     for (i = 0; i < ctrl->nconsoles; i++)
         virLXCControllerConsoleClose(&(ctrl->consoles[i]));
 
diff --git a/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_ebiptables_driver.c b/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_ebiptables_driver.c
index 8dbab185520d8f6a5e18331b3edadcdb7d283e1d..ce0b7e3568f51cfa0dac043d6e750ec153c59e84 100644
--- a/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_ebiptables_driver.c
+++ b/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_ebiptables_driver.c
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ static void ebiptablesDriverShutdown(void);
 static void ebtablesCleanAll(const char *ifname);
 static int ebiptablesAllTeardown(const char *ifname);
 
-static virMutex execCLIMutex;
+static virMutex execCLIMutex = VIR_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
 
 struct ushort_map {
     unsigned short attr;
@@ -4376,9 +4376,6 @@ ebiptablesDriverInit(bool privileged)
     if (!privileged)
         return 0;
 
-    if (virMutexInit(&execCLIMutex) < 0)
-        return -EINVAL;
-
     grep_cmd_path = virFindFileInPath("grep");
 
     /*
diff --git a/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_learnipaddr.c b/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_learnipaddr.c
index 1ffed7838f2234f98352221de7f6c067cad06402..a6cdc87d8f08f67f1ab332d29b8b66b2c28493dc 100644
--- a/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_learnipaddr.c
+++ b/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_learnipaddr.c
@@ -119,10 +119,10 @@ struct ether_vlan_header
 } ATTRIBUTE_PACKED;
 
 
-static virMutex pendingLearnReqLock;
+static virMutex pendingLearnReqLock = VIR_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
 static virHashTablePtr pendingLearnReq;
 
-static virMutex ifaceMapLock;
+static virMutex ifaceMapLock = VIR_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
 static virHashTablePtr ifaceLockMap;
 
 typedef struct _virNWFilterIfaceLock virNWFilterIfaceLock;
@@ -806,22 +806,12 @@ virNWFilterLearnInit(void)
         return -1;
     }
 
-    if (virMutexInit(&pendingLearnReqLock) < 0) {
-        virNWFilterLearnShutdown();
-        return -1;
-    }
-
     ifaceLockMap = virHashCreate(0, virHashValueFree);
     if (!ifaceLockMap) {
         virNWFilterLearnShutdown();
         return -1;
     }
 
-    if (virMutexInit(&ifaceMapLock) < 0) {
-        virNWFilterLearnShutdown();
-        return -1;
-    }
-
     return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/test/test_driver.c b/src/test/test_driver.c
index 77e30b29c42d138fdc8efbdcc2b0628bd5e741aa..64f3daaeb15fedeef9261d92b2530d4fa0f39148 100644
--- a/src/test/test_driver.c
+++ b/src/test/test_driver.c
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ typedef struct _testConn *testConnPtr;
 
 static testConn defaultConn;
 static int defaultConnections;
-static virMutex defaultLock;
+static virMutex defaultLock = VIR_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
 
 #define TEST_MODEL "i686"
 #define TEST_MODEL_WORDSIZE 32
@@ -141,15 +141,6 @@ static int testConnectClose(virConnectPtr conn);
 static void testObjectEventQueue(testConnPtr driver,
                                  virObjectEventPtr event);
 
-static int
-testOnceInit(void)
-{
-    return virMutexInit(&defaultLock);
-}
-
-VIR_ONCE_GLOBAL_INIT(test)
-
-
 static void testDriverLock(testConnPtr driver)
 {
     virMutexLock(&driver->lock);
@@ -1554,9 +1545,6 @@ static virDrvOpenStatus testConnectOpen(virConnectPtr conn,
 
     virCheckFlags(VIR_CONNECT_RO, VIR_DRV_OPEN_ERROR);
 
-    if (testInitialize() < 0)
-        return VIR_DRV_OPEN_ERROR;
-
     if (!conn->uri)
         return VIR_DRV_OPEN_DECLINED;
 
@@ -1596,9 +1584,6 @@ static int testConnectClose(virConnectPtr conn)
 {
     testConnPtr privconn = conn->privateData;
 
-    if (testInitialize() < 0)
-        return -1;
-
     if (privconn == &defaultConn) {
         virMutexLock(&defaultLock);
         if (--defaultConnections) {
diff --git a/src/util/virnetdevmacvlan.c b/src/util/virnetdevmacvlan.c
index 42313b708a2841a7a6e2e1c6dd592f7a7c2a4eb0..7bbf5406091a2121f70534112338345d6e42a837 100644
--- a/src/util/virnetdevmacvlan.c
+++ b/src/util/virnetdevmacvlan.c
@@ -73,18 +73,7 @@ VIR_LOG_INIT("util.netdevmacvlan");
 # define MACVLAN_NAME_PREFIX	"macvlan"
 # define MACVLAN_NAME_PATTERN	"macvlan%d"
 
-virMutex virNetDevMacVLanCreateMutex;
-
-static int virNetDevMacVLanCreateMutexOnceInit(void)
-{
-    if (virMutexInit(&virNetDevMacVLanCreateMutex) < 0) {
-        virReportSystemError(errno, "%s", _("unable to init mutex"));
-        return -1;
-    }
-    return 0;
-}
-
-VIR_ONCE_GLOBAL_INIT(virNetDevMacVLanCreateMutex);
+virMutex virNetDevMacVLanCreateMutex = VIR_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
 
 /**
  * virNetDevMacVLanCreate:
@@ -873,8 +862,6 @@ int virNetDevMacVLanCreateWithVPortProfile(const char *tgifname,
     } else {
  create_name:
         retries = 5;
-        if (virNetDevMacVLanCreateMutexInitialize() < 0)
-            return -1;
         virMutexLock(&virNetDevMacVLanCreateMutex);
         for (c = 0; c < 8192; c++) {
             snprintf(ifname, sizeof(ifname), pattern, c);
diff --git a/src/util/virnetdevveth.c b/src/util/virnetdevveth.c
index 14febb7c39e09efd921bd23c78d41c68feec3cee..e9d6f9c514d4e4566ea16f8277726b0136693a11 100644
--- a/src/util/virnetdevveth.c
+++ b/src/util/virnetdevveth.c
@@ -41,18 +41,7 @@ VIR_LOG_INIT("util.netdevveth");
 
 /* Functions */
 
-virMutex virNetDevVethCreateMutex;
-
-static int virNetDevVethCreateMutexOnceInit(void)
-{
-    if (virMutexInit(&virNetDevVethCreateMutex) < 0) {
-        virReportSystemError(errno, "%s", _("unable to init mutex"));
-        return -1;
-    }
-    return 0;
-}
-
-VIR_ONCE_GLOBAL_INIT(virNetDevVethCreateMutex);
+virMutex virNetDevVethCreateMutex = VIR_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
 
 static int virNetDevVethExists(int devNum)
 {
@@ -132,9 +121,6 @@ int virNetDevVethCreate(char** veth1, char** veth2)
      * We might race with other containers, but this is reasonably
      * unlikely, so don't do too many retries for device creation
      */
-    if (virNetDevVethCreateMutexInitialize() < 0)
-        return -1;
-
     virMutexLock(&virNetDevVethCreateMutex);
 #define MAX_VETH_RETRIES 10
 
diff --git a/src/util/virnodesuspend.c b/src/util/virnodesuspend.c
index 8088931ecc6604b3853d0b9132c0e16edfa65a0b..08c47aa20f18a7d92908d4978b10695c07c30ebe 100644
--- a/src/util/virnodesuspend.c
+++ b/src/util/virnodesuspend.c
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ VIR_LOG_INIT("util.nodesuspend");
 static unsigned int nodeSuspendTargetMask;
 static bool nodeSuspendTargetMaskInit;
 
-static virMutex virNodeSuspendMutex;
+static virMutex virNodeSuspendMutex = VIR_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
 
 static bool aboutToSuspend;
 
@@ -61,20 +61,6 @@ static void virNodeSuspendUnlock(void)
 }
 
 
-static int virNodeSuspendOnceInit(void)
-{
-    if (virMutexInit(&virNodeSuspendMutex) < 0) {
-        virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
-                       _("Unable to initialize mutex"));
-        return -1;
-    }
-
-    return 0;
-}
-
-VIR_ONCE_GLOBAL_INIT(virNodeSuspend)
-
-
 /**
  * virNodeSuspendSetNodeWakeup:
  * @alarmTime: time in seconds from now, at which the RTC alarm has to be set.
@@ -178,9 +164,6 @@ int nodeSuspendForDuration(unsigned int target,
 
     virCheckFlags(0, -1);
 
-    if (virNodeSuspendInitialize() < 0)
-        return -1;
-
     if (virNodeSuspendGetTargetMask(&supported) < 0)
         return -1;
 
@@ -267,9 +250,6 @@ virNodeSuspendSupportsTarget(unsigned int target, bool *supported)
     int status;
     int ret = -1;
 
-    if (virNodeSuspendInitialize() < 0)
-        return -1;
-
     *supported = false;
 
     switch (target) {
diff --git a/src/util/virrandom.c b/src/util/virrandom.c
index 3f17f5e11f96b99cef0e40ef57a03ab6707f0ebc..4301f3f3d6fc4eb0c7dd64fa1d1faf24da07673c 100644
--- a/src/util/virrandom.c
+++ b/src/util/virrandom.c
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ enum {
 
 static char randomState[RANDOM_STATE_SIZE];
 static struct random_data randomData;
-static virMutex randomLock;
+static virMutex randomLock = VIR_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
 
 
 static int
@@ -74,9 +74,6 @@ virRandomOnceInit(void)
         return -1;
 #endif
 
-    if (virMutexInit(&randomLock) < 0)
-        return -1;
-
     if (initstate_r(seed,
                     randomState,
                     sizeof(randomState),
diff --git a/src/util/virthread.h b/src/util/virthread.h
index eba8dc369ca1e4c25a886404551371226c89ec84..4b92a43c629ea7181aee69128f587b9860a73370 100644
--- a/src/util/virthread.h
+++ b/src/util/virthread.h
@@ -71,6 +71,11 @@ struct virOnceControl {
 };
 
 
+# define VIR_MUTEX_INITIALIZER            \
+    {                                     \
+        .lock = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER \
+    }
+
 # define VIR_ONCE_CONTROL_INITIALIZER \
     {                                 \
         .once = PTHREAD_ONCE_INIT     \