2 files changed, 7 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/src/internal/poll/fd_windows.go b/src/internal/poll/fd_windows.go
index fe23d4b3d7..b08ca615c6 100644
--- a/src/internal/poll/fd_windows.go
+++ b/src/internal/poll/fd_windows.go
@@ -53,14 +53,17 @@ func checkSetFileCompletionNotificationModes() {
 	useSetFileCompletionNotificationModes = true
 }
 
-func init() {
+// InitWSA initiates the use of the Winsock DLL by the current process.
+// It is called from the net package at init time to avoid
+// loading ws2_32.dll when net is not used.
+var InitWSA = sync.OnceFunc(func() {
 	var d syscall.WSAData
 	e := syscall.WSAStartup(uint32(0x202), &d)
 	if e != nil {
 		initErr = e
 	}
 	checkSetFileCompletionNotificationModes()
-}
+})
 
 // operation contains superset of data necessary to perform all async IO.
 type operation struct {
diff --git a/src/internal/poll/fd_windows_test.go b/src/internal/poll/fd_windows_test.go
index f0697a0d7b..1cee18dcba 100644
--- a/src/internal/poll/fd_windows_test.go
+++ b/src/internal/poll/fd_windows_test.go
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ func logFD(net string, fd *poll.FD, err error) {
 func init() {
 	loggedFDs = make(map[syscall.Handle]*loggedFD)
 	*poll.LogInitFD = logFD
+
+	poll.InitWSA()
 }
 
 func findLoggedFD(h syscall.Handle) (lfd *loggedFD, found bool) {