diff --git a/src/cpp/util/byte_buffer_cc.cc b/src/cpp/util/byte_buffer_cc.cc
index d976b694403..8700f96d8dc 100644
--- a/src/cpp/util/byte_buffer_cc.cc
+++ b/src/cpp/util/byte_buffer_cc.cc
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
 
 namespace grpc {
 
+static internal::GrpcLibraryInitializer g_gli_initializer;
+
 Status ByteBuffer::Dump(std::vector<Slice>* slices) const {
   slices->clear();
   if (!buffer_) {