diff --git a/libc/bionic/libc_init_static.c b/libc/bionic/libc_init_static.c
index d097b6b..e6264bb 100644
--- a/libc/bionic/libc_init_static.c
+++ b/libc/bionic/libc_init_static.c
@@ -68,6 +68,12 @@
     /* Initialize the C runtime environment */
     __libc_init_common(elfdata);
 
+#ifdef MALLOC_LEAK_CHECK
+    /* setup malloc leak checker, requires system properties */
+    extern void malloc_debug_init(void);
+    malloc_debug_init();
+#endif
+
     /* Several Linux ABIs don't pass the onexit pointer, and the ones that
      * do never use it.  Therefore, we ignore it.
      */