diff --git a/libobs/obs-windows.c b/libobs/obs-windows.c
index ed06cc3b2a5c46e96e3c4b64e52aac4aa875f840..bcc91bd3664e7f37a32b10242e7e904457d5027f 100644
--- a/libobs/obs-windows.c
+++ b/libobs/obs-windows.c
@@ -627,3 +627,13 @@ void reset_win32_symbol_paths(void)
 	dstr_free(&path_str);
 	da_free(paths);
 }
+
+void initialize_com(void)
+{
+	CoInitializeEx(0, COINIT_MULTITHREADED);
+}
+
+void uninitialize_com(void)
+{
+	CoUninitialize();
+}
diff --git a/libobs/obs.c b/libobs/obs.c
index 33612105e638d505fcd7fcb1e9de6516042e6958..d3ff752fb4d646d5109ac1a314e25f2a8f449cf7 100644
--- a/libobs/obs.c
+++ b/libobs/obs.c
@@ -718,6 +718,8 @@ static bool obs_init(const char *locale, const char *module_config_path,
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
 extern void initialize_crash_handler(void);
+extern void initialize_com(void);
+extern void uninitialize_com(void);
 #endif
 
 static const char *obs_startup_name = "obs_startup";
@@ -735,6 +737,7 @@ bool obs_startup(const char *locale, const char *module_config_path,
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
 	initialize_crash_handler();
+	initialize_com();
 #endif
 
 	success = obs_init(locale, module_config_path, store);
@@ -803,6 +806,10 @@ void obs_shutdown(void)
 	bfree(obs->locale);
 	bfree(obs);
 	obs = NULL;
+
+#ifdef _WIN32
+	uninitialize_com();
+#endif
 }
 
 bool obs_initialized(void)