diff --git a/backend/tests/common/mod.rs b/backend/tests/common/mod.rs
index 83e7f9931a..2c569537fa 100644
--- a/backend/tests/common/mod.rs
+++ b/backend/tests/common/mod.rs
@@ -313,6 +313,9 @@ pub fn spawn_test_worker(
     conn: &Connection,
     port: u16,
 ) -> (KillpillSender, tokio::task::JoinHandle<()>) {
+    #[cfg(feature = "deno_core")]
+    windmill_runtime_nativets::setup_deno_runtime().expect("V8 init failed");
+
     std::fs::DirBuilder::new()
         .recursive(true)
         .create(windmill_worker::GO_BIN_CACHE_DIR)
diff --git a/backend/tests/nativets_jobs.rs b/backend/tests/nativets_jobs.rs
index a8fbb483ed..c654882589 100644
--- a/backend/tests/nativets_jobs.rs
+++ b/backend/tests/nativets_jobs.rs
@@ -28,15 +28,6 @@ use windmill_common::jobs::{JobPayload, RawCode};
 #[cfg(feature = "deno_core")]
 use windmill_common::scripts::ScriptLang;
 
-#[cfg(feature = "deno_core")]
-fn init_nativets_runtime() {
-    static INIT: std::sync::Once = std::sync::Once::new();
-    INIT.call_once(|| {
-        let _ = rustls::crypto::ring::default_provider().install_default();
-        windmill_runtime_nativets::setup_deno_runtime().expect("V8 init failed");
-    });
-}
-
 #[cfg(feature = "deno_core")]
 fn nativets_code(content: &str) -> JobPayload {
     JobPayload::Code(RawCode {
@@ -82,7 +73,6 @@ async fn push_and_wait(
 #[sqlx::test(fixtures("base"))]
 async fn test_nativets_jobs(db: Pool<Postgres>) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     initialize_tracing().await;
-    init_nativets_runtime();
     set_jwt_secret().await;
 
     let server = ApiServer::start(db.clone()).await?;
diff --git a/backend/tests/nativets_stress.rs b/backend/tests/nativets_stress.rs
index 896b5e8f3d..cf3710d86c 100644
--- a/backend/tests/nativets_stress.rs
+++ b/backend/tests/nativets_stress.rs
@@ -260,13 +260,6 @@ async fn test_parallel_nativets_stress(db: Pool<Postgres>) -> anyhow::Result<()>
     initialize_tracing().await;
     set_jwt_secret().await;
 
-    // V8 and rustls must be initialized before any JsRuntime is created
-    static RUNTIME_INIT: std::sync::Once = std::sync::Once::new();
-    RUNTIME_INIT.call_once(|| {
-        let _ = rustls::crypto::ring::default_provider().install_default();
-        windmill_runtime_nativets::setup_deno_runtime().expect("V8 init failed");
-    });
-
     let server = ApiServer::start(db.clone()).await?;
     let port = server.addr.port();
     let conn = Connection::Sql(db.clone());
diff --git a/backend/windmill-runtime-nativets/Cargo.toml b/backend/windmill-runtime-nativets/Cargo.toml
index cb084016a8..417ec8de9d 100644
--- a/backend/windmill-runtime-nativets/Cargo.toml
+++ b/backend/windmill-runtime-nativets/Cargo.toml
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ lazy_static.workspace = true
 const_format.workspace = true
 futures.workspace = true
 sqlx.workspace = true
+rustls.workspace = true
 
 [build-dependencies]
 deno_fetch.workspace = true
diff --git a/backend/windmill-runtime-nativets/src/lib.rs b/backend/windmill-runtime-nativets/src/lib.rs
index 30b30dd989..4f1f88daa8 100644
--- a/backend/windmill-runtime-nativets/src/lib.rs
+++ b/backend/windmill-runtime-nativets/src/lib.rs
@@ -156,28 +156,43 @@ lazy_static! {
 
 // ── Public interface ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
-/// Set up the deno_core/V8 runtime. Must be called once before creating any JsRuntime.
+/// Set up the deno_core/V8 runtime. Idempotent — safe to call multiple times.
+/// Called automatically before JsRuntime creation, but can also be called
+/// eagerly at startup for predictable initialization order.
 pub fn setup_deno_runtime() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
-    let unrecognized_v8_flags = deno_core::v8_set_flags(vec![
-        "--stack-size=1024".to_string(),
-        "--no-harmony-import-assertions".to_string(),
-    ])
-    .into_iter()
-    .skip(1)
-    .collect::<Vec<_>>();
+    use std::sync::Once;
+    static INIT: Once = Once::new();
 
-    if !unrecognized_v8_flags.is_empty() {
-        println!("Unrecognized V8 flags: {:?}", unrecognized_v8_flags);
+    let mut init_err: Option<String> = None;
+    INIT.call_once(|| {
+        // deno_fetch requires a TLS provider; install ring as default (idempotent).
+        let _ = rustls::crypto::ring::default_provider().install_default();
+
+        let unrecognized_v8_flags = deno_core::v8_set_flags(vec![
+            "--stack-size=1024".to_string(),
+            "--no-harmony-import-assertions".to_string(),
+        ])
+        .into_iter()
+        .skip(1)
+        .collect::<Vec<_>>();
+
+        if !unrecognized_v8_flags.is_empty() {
+            init_err = Some(format!("Unrecognized V8 flags: {:?}", unrecognized_v8_flags));
+        }
+
+        // Use an unprotected platform that doesn't enforce thread-isolated allocations
+        // via Memory Protection Keys (pkeys). The default platform requires all V8-using
+        // threads to be descendants of the thread that called v8::Initialize, but tokio's
+        // spawn_blocking pool threads don't satisfy this. Without this, V8 crashes with
+        // SIGSEGV in WasmCodePointerTable::AllocateUninitializedEntry() on x86_64 Linux.
+        // See: https://github.com/denoland/deno_core/issues/952
+        let platform = deno_core::v8::new_unprotected_default_platform(0, false).make_shared();
+        deno_core::JsRuntime::init_platform(Some(platform), false);
+    });
+
+    if let Some(msg) = init_err {
+        println!("{msg}");
     }
-
-    // Use an unprotected platform that doesn't enforce thread-isolated allocations
-    // via Memory Protection Keys (pkeys). The default platform requires all V8-using
-    // threads to be descendants of the thread that called v8::Initialize, but tokio's
-    // spawn_blocking pool threads don't satisfy this. Without this, V8 crashes with
-    // SIGSEGV in WasmCodePointerTable::AllocateUninitializedEntry() on x86_64 Linux.
-    // See: https://github.com/denoland/deno_core/issues/952
-    let platform = deno_core::v8::new_unprotected_default_platform(0, false).make_shared();
-    deno_core::JsRuntime::init_platform(Some(platform), false);
     Ok(())
 }
 
@@ -464,6 +479,9 @@ pub async fn eval_fetch_timeout(
 
         let (memory_limit_tx, mut memory_limit_rx) = mpsc::unbounded_channel::<()>();
 
+        // Ensure V8 platform is initialized (idempotent, no-op if already done).
+        setup_deno_runtime().expect("V8 platform init failed");
+
         // Serialize isolate creation as extra safety net against concurrent V8
         // isolate creation races. The main fix is the unprotected platform in
         // setup_deno_runtime(), but this provides defense in depth.