diff --git a/src/java-interop/java-interop-gc-bridge-mono.c b/src/java-interop/java-interop-gc-bridge-mono.c
index 8de6542cc..d9c66ec7d 100644
--- a/src/java-interop/java-interop-gc-bridge-mono.c
+++ b/src/java-interop/java-interop-gc-bridge-mono.c
@@ -262,6 +262,13 @@ java_interop_gc_bridge_new (JavaVM *jvm)
 	if (jvm == NULL)
 		return NULL;
 
+#if defined (ANDROID) || defined (DYLIB_MONO)
+	if (!monodroid_dylib_mono_init (monodroid_get_dylib (), NULL)) {
+		log_fatal (LOG_DEFAULT, "mono runtime initialization error: %s", dlerror ());
+		exit (FATAL_EXIT_CANNOT_FIND_MONO);
+	}
+#endif  /* defined (ANDROID) || defined (DYLIB_MONO) */
+
 	lookup_optional_mono_thread_functions ();
 
 	JavaInteropGCBridge bridge = {0};