diff --git a/src/fcxml.c b/src/fcxml.c
index 6b0f613..82a46f2 100644
--- a/src/fcxml.c
+++ b/src/fcxml.c
@@ -59,6 +59,10 @@
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #include <mbstring.h>
 extern FcChar8 fontconfig_instprefix[];
+pfnGetSystemWindowsDirectory pGetSystemWindowsDirectory = NULL;
+pfnSHGetFolderPathA pSHGetFolderPathA = NULL;
+static void
+_ensureWin32GettersReady();
 #endif
 
 static FcChar8  *__fc_userdir = NULL;
@@ -1384,6 +1388,7 @@ _get_real_paths_from_prefix(FcConfigParse *parse, const FcChar8 *path, const FcC
     {
 	int rc;
 	path = buffer;
+	_ensureWin32GettersReady();
 	rc = pGetSystemWindowsDirectory ((LPSTR) buffer, sizeof (buffer) - 20);
 	if (rc == 0 || rc > sizeof (buffer) - 20)
 	{
@@ -3451,11 +3456,6 @@ bail0:
     return ret || !complain;
 }
 
-#ifdef _WIN32
-pfnGetSystemWindowsDirectory pGetSystemWindowsDirectory = NULL;
-pfnSHGetFolderPathA pSHGetFolderPathA = NULL;
-#endif
-
 static FcBool
 FcConfigParseAndLoadFromMemoryInternal (FcConfig       *config,
 					const FcChar8  *filename,
@@ -3601,19 +3601,7 @@ _FcConfigParse (FcConfig	*config,
 
     FcStrBufInit (&reason, NULL, 0);
 #ifdef _WIN32
-    if (!pGetSystemWindowsDirectory)
-    {
-        HMODULE hk32 = GetModuleHandleA("kernel32.dll");
-        if (!(pGetSystemWindowsDirectory = (pfnGetSystemWindowsDirectory) GetProcAddress(hk32, "GetSystemWindowsDirectoryA")))
-            pGetSystemWindowsDirectory = (pfnGetSystemWindowsDirectory) GetWindowsDirectory;
-    }
-    if (!pSHGetFolderPathA)
-    {
-        HMODULE hSh = LoadLibraryA("shfolder.dll");
-        /* the check is done later, because there is no provided fallback */
-        if (hSh)
-            pSHGetFolderPathA = (pfnSHGetFolderPathA) GetProcAddress(hSh, "SHGetFolderPathA");
-    }
+    _ensureWin32GettersReady();
 #endif
 
     filename = FcConfigGetFilename (config, name);
@@ -3736,6 +3724,26 @@ FcConfigParseAndLoadFromMemory (FcConfig       *config,
     return FcConfigParseAndLoadFromMemoryInternal (config, (const FcChar8 *)"memory", buffer, complain, FcTrue);
 }
 
+#ifdef _WIN32
+static void
+_ensureWin32GettersReady()
+{
+    if (!pGetSystemWindowsDirectory)
+    {
+        HMODULE hk32 = GetModuleHandleA("kernel32.dll");
+        if (!(pGetSystemWindowsDirectory = (pfnGetSystemWindowsDirectory)GetProcAddress(hk32, "GetSystemWindowsDirectoryA")))
+            pGetSystemWindowsDirectory = (pfnGetSystemWindowsDirectory)GetWindowsDirectory;
+    }
+    if (!pSHGetFolderPathA)
+    {
+        HMODULE hSh = LoadLibraryA("shfolder.dll");
+        /* the check is done later, because there is no provided fallback */
+        if (hSh)
+            pSHGetFolderPathA = (pfnSHGetFolderPathA)GetProcAddress(hSh, "SHGetFolderPathA");
+    }
+}
+#endif // _WIN32
+
 #define __fcxml__
 #include "fcaliastail.h"
 #undef __fcxml__