diff --git a/apps/openssl.c b/apps/openssl.c
index 895d8f76b24f5cedd8110e09bb36e7a92eb39176..45f8d7f4ef2b1faca9294d7ad51afc24f4768b2b 100644
--- a/apps/openssl.c
+++ b/apps/openssl.c
@@ -229,6 +229,10 @@ int main(int Argc, char *Argv[])
 	arg.data=NULL;
 	arg.count=0;
 
+	if (bio_err == NULL)
+		if ((bio_err=BIO_new(BIO_s_file())) != NULL)
+			BIO_set_fp(bio_err,stderr,BIO_NOCLOSE|BIO_FP_TEXT);
+
 	if (getenv("OPENSSL_DEBUG_MEMORY") != NULL) /* if not defined, use compiled-in library defaults */
 		{
 		if (!(0 == strcmp(getenv("OPENSSL_DEBUG_MEMORY"), "off")))
@@ -253,10 +257,6 @@ int main(int Argc, char *Argv[])
 
 	apps_startup();
 
-	if (bio_err == NULL)
-		if ((bio_err=BIO_new(BIO_s_file())) != NULL)
-			BIO_set_fp(bio_err,stderr,BIO_NOCLOSE|BIO_FP_TEXT);
-
 	/* Lets load up our environment a little */
 	p=getenv("OPENSSL_CONF");
 	if (p == NULL)