diff --git a/src/emacs.c b/src/emacs.c
index d8a2863fd9c..2d924da1cdb 100644
--- a/src/emacs.c
+++ b/src/emacs.c
@@ -1937,7 +1937,9 @@ Using an Emacs configured with --with-x-toolkit=lucid does not have this problem
     }
 
   init_alloc ();
+#ifndef HAVE_UNEXEC
   init_bignum ();
+#endif
   init_threads ();
   init_eval ();
   running_asynch_code = 0;