diff --git a/event-basic.c b/event-basic.c
index d59ef8aa8..e07052281 100644
--- a/event-basic.c
+++ b/event-basic.c
@@ -4,11 +4,6 @@
 
 #if !CONFIG_LUA
 bool vis_event_emit(Vis *vis, enum VisEvents id, ...) {
-	if (!vis->initialized) {
-		vis->initialized = true;
-		ui_init(&vis->ui, vis);
-	}
-
 	va_list ap;
 	va_start(ap, id);
 
diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index 85330cbc5..3e9d9ab8b 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -2214,10 +2214,34 @@ static void signal_handler(int signum, siginfo_t *siginfo, void *context) {
 }
 
 int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
+	for (int i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
+		if (argv[i][0] != '-') {
+			continue;
+		} else if (strcmp(argv[i], "-") == 0) {
+			continue;
+		} else if (strcmp(argv[i], "--") == 0) {
+			break;
+		} else if (strcmp(argv[i], "-v") == 0) {
+			printf("vis %s%s%s%s%s%s%s\n", VERSION,
+			       CONFIG_CURSES  ? " +curses"  : "",
+			       CONFIG_LUA     ? " +lua"     : "",
+			       CONFIG_LPEG    ? " +lpeg"    : "",
+			       CONFIG_TRE     ? " +tre"     : "",
+			       CONFIG_ACL     ? " +acl"     : "",
+			       CONFIG_SELINUX ? " +selinux" : "");
+			return 0;
+		} else {
+			fprintf(stderr, "Unknown command option: %s\n", argv[i]);
+			return 1;
+		}
+	}
+
 	vis = vis_new();
 	if (!vis)
 		return EXIT_FAILURE;
 
+	vis_event_emit(vis, VIS_EVENT_INIT);
+
 	for (int i = 0; i < LENGTH(vis_action); i++) {
 		const KeyAction *action = &vis_action[i];
 		if (!vis_action_register(vis, action))
@@ -2264,28 +2288,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 	if (sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, &blockset, NULL) == -1)
 		vis_die(vis, "Failed to block signals\n");
 
-	for (int i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
-		if (argv[i][0] != '-') {
-			continue;
-		} else if (strcmp(argv[i], "-") == 0) {
-			continue;
-		} else if (strcmp(argv[i], "--") == 0) {
-			break;
-		} else if (strcmp(argv[i], "-v") == 0) {
-			printf("vis %s%s%s%s%s%s%s\n", VERSION,
-			       CONFIG_CURSES ? " +curses" : "",
-			       CONFIG_LUA ? " +lua" : "",
-			       CONFIG_LPEG ? " +lpeg" : "",
-			       CONFIG_TRE ? " +tre" : "",
-			       CONFIG_ACL ? " +acl" : "",
-			       CONFIG_SELINUX ? " +selinux" : "");
-			return 0;
-		} else {
-			fprintf(stderr, "Unknown command option: %s\n", argv[i]);
-			return 1;
-		}
-	}
-
 	char *cmd = NULL;
 	bool end_of_options = false, win_created = false;
 
diff --git a/vis-core.h b/vis-core.h
index bc9736ed1..182c53732 100644
--- a/vis-core.h
+++ b/vis-core.h
@@ -205,7 +205,6 @@ struct Vis {
 	Action action_prev;                  /* last operator action used by the repeat (dot) command */
 	Mode *mode;                          /* currently active mode, used to search for keybindings */
 	Mode *mode_prev;                     /* previously active user mode */
-	bool initialized;                    /* whether UI and Lua integration has been initialized */
 	int nesting_level;                   /* parsing state to hold keep track of { } nesting level */
 	volatile bool running;               /* exit main loop once this becomes false */
 	int exit_status;                     /* exit status when terminating main loop */
diff --git a/vis-lua.c b/vis-lua.c
index 629886f4f..e3e85c345 100644
--- a/vis-lua.c
+++ b/vis-lua.c
@@ -3608,18 +3608,13 @@ static void vis_lua_ui_draw(Vis *vis) {
 }
 
 bool vis_event_emit(Vis *vis, enum VisEvents id, ...) {
-	if (!vis->initialized) {
-		vis->initialized = true;
-		ui_init(&vis->ui, vis);
-		vis_lua_init(vis);
-	}
-
 	va_list ap;
 	va_start(ap, id);
 	bool ret = true;
 
 	switch (id) {
 	case VIS_EVENT_INIT:
+		vis_lua_init(vis);
 		break;
 	case VIS_EVENT_START:
 		vis_lua_start(vis);
diff --git a/vis.c b/vis.c
index ed16f79f4..7d3dd6a96 100644
--- a/vis.c
+++ b/vis.c
@@ -573,6 +573,7 @@ Vis *vis_new(void) {
 		free(vis);
 		return NULL;
 	}
+	ui_init(&vis->ui, vis);
 	vis->change_colors = true;
 	for (size_t i = 0; i < LENGTH(vis->registers); i++)
 		register_init(&vis->registers[i]);