diff --git a/Lib/ldap/__init__.py b/Lib/ldap/__init__.py
index c1c5ef1..c8a1b12 100644
--- a/Lib/ldap/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/ldap/__init__.py
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
 assert _ldap.__version__==__version__, \
        ImportError('ldap %s and _ldap %s version mismatch!' % (__version__,_ldap.__version__))
 from _ldap import *
+# call into libldap to initialize it right now
+LIBLDAP_API_INFO = _ldap.get_option(_ldap.OPT_API_INFO)
 
 OPT_NAMES_DICT = {}
 for k,v in vars(_ldap).items():