diff --git a/bloom.c b/bloom.c
index a805ac0c29..c98d1672ad 100644
--- a/bloom.c
+++ b/bloom.c
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 define_commit_slab(bloom_filter_slab, struct bloom_filter);
 
 static struct bloom_filter_slab bloom_filters;
+static int bloom_filter_slab_initialized;
 
 struct pathmap_hash_entry {
     struct hashmap_entry entry;
@@ -263,7 +264,10 @@ void add_key_to_filter(const struct bloom_key *key,
 
 void init_bloom_filters(void)
 {
+	if (bloom_filter_slab_initialized)
+		return;
 	init_bloom_filter_slab(&bloom_filters);
+	bloom_filter_slab_initialized = 1;
 }
 
 static void free_one_bloom_filter(struct bloom_filter *filter)
@@ -276,6 +280,7 @@ static void free_one_bloom_filter(struct bloom_filter *filter)
 void deinit_bloom_filters(void)
 {
 	deep_clear_bloom_filter_slab(&bloom_filters, free_one_bloom_filter);
+	bloom_filter_slab_initialized = 0;
 }
 
 struct bloom_keyvec *bloom_keyvec_new(const char *path, size_t len,