diff --git a/include/wx/webrequest_curl.h b/include/wx/webrequest_curl.h
index aa6b1c7c7d..f3659866db 100644
--- a/include/wx/webrequest_curl.h
+++ b/include/wx/webrequest_curl.h
@@ -133,8 +133,6 @@ private:
     wxMutex m_cancelledMutex;
     wxVector< wxObjectDataPtr<wxWebRequestCURL> > m_cancelledRequests;
 
-    void Initialize();
-
     static int ms_activeSessions;
 
     wxDECLARE_NO_COPY_CLASS(wxWebSessionCURL);
diff --git a/src/common/webrequest_curl.cpp b/src/common/webrequest_curl.cpp
index 904836ce1c..b6cb346ec8 100644
--- a/src/common/webrequest_curl.cpp
+++ b/src/common/webrequest_curl.cpp
@@ -377,15 +377,18 @@ wxWebSessionCURL::~wxWebSessionCURL()
         curl_global_cleanup();
 }
 
-void wxWebSessionCURL::Initialize()
-{
-    m_handle = curl_multi_init();
-}
-
 wxWebRequest* wxWebSessionCURL::CreateRequest(const wxString& url, int id)
 {
+    // Allocate our handle on demand.
     if ( !m_handle )
-        Initialize();
+    {
+        m_handle = curl_multi_init();
+        if ( !m_handle )
+        {
+            wxLogDebug("curl_multi_init() failed");
+            return NULL;
+        }
+    }
 
     return new wxWebRequestCURL(*this, id, url);
 }