diff --git a/panda/src/downloader/httpClient.cxx b/panda/src/downloader/httpClient.cxx
index 8c2e9b1f60..eb91bcadf8 100644
--- a/panda/src/downloader/httpClient.cxx
+++ b/panda/src/downloader/httpClient.cxx
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 
 #ifdef HAVE_SSL
 
+#include <openssl/rand.h>
 #ifndef NDEBUG
 #include <openssl/err.h>
 #endif
@@ -155,6 +156,10 @@ initialize_ssl() {
 #endif
   OpenSSL_add_all_algorithms();
 
+  // Call RAND_status() here to force the random number generator to
+  // initialize early.
+  RAND_status();
+
   _ssl_initialized = true;
 }