diff --git a/src/crystal/main.cr b/src/crystal/main.cr
index 9b4384f16a8c..c26199fcdb4a 100644
--- a/src/crystal/main.cr
+++ b/src/crystal/main.cr
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ end
 module Crystal
   # Defines the main routine run by normal Crystal programs:
   #
-  # - Initializes the GC
+  # - Initializes runtime requirements (GC, ...)
   # - Invokes the given *block*
   # - Handles unhandled exceptions
   # - Invokes `at_exit` handlers
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ module Crystal
     {% if flag?(:tracing) %} Crystal::Tracing.init {% end %}
     GC.init
 
+    init_runtime
+
     status =
       begin
         yield
@@ -48,6 +50,14 @@ module Crystal
     exit(status, ex)
   end
 
+  # :nodoc:
+  def self.init_runtime : Nil
+    # `__crystal_once` directly or indirectly depends on `Fiber` and `Thread`
+    # so we explicitly initialize their class vars
+    Thread.init
+    Fiber.init
+  end
+
   # :nodoc:
   def self.exit(status : Int32, exception : Exception?) : Int32
     status = Crystal::AtExitHandlers.run status, exception
@@ -130,7 +140,10 @@ fun main(argc : Int32, argv : UInt8**) : Int32
   Crystal.main(argc, argv)
 end
 
-{% if flag?(:win32) %}
+{% if flag?(:interpreted) %}
+  # the interpreter doesn't call Crystal.main(&)
+  Crystal.init_runtime
+{% elsif flag?(:win32) %}
   require "./system/win32/wmain"
 {% elsif flag?(:wasi) %}
   require "./system/wasi/main"
diff --git a/src/crystal/system/thread.cr b/src/crystal/system/thread.cr
index 92136d1f3989..878a27e4c578 100644
--- a/src/crystal/system/thread.cr
+++ b/src/crystal/system/thread.cr
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 module Crystal::System::Thread
   # alias Handle
 
+  # def self.init : Nil
+
   # def self.new_handle(thread_obj : ::Thread) : Handle
 
   # def self.current_handle : Handle
@@ -48,7 +50,16 @@ class Thread
   include Crystal::System::Thread
 
   # all thread objects, so the GC can see them (it doesn't scan thread locals)
-  protected class_getter(threads) { Thread::LinkedList(Thread).new }
+  @@threads = uninitialized Thread::LinkedList(Thread)
+
+  protected def self.threads : Thread::LinkedList(Thread)
+    @@threads
+  end
+
+  def self.init : Nil
+    @@threads = Thread::LinkedList(Thread).new
+    Crystal::System::Thread.init
+  end
 
   @system_handle : Crystal::System::Thread::Handle
   @exception : Exception?
diff --git a/src/crystal/system/unix/pthread.cr b/src/crystal/system/unix/pthread.cr
index 98629a70fbb6..e91990689084 100644
--- a/src/crystal/system/unix/pthread.cr
+++ b/src/crystal/system/unix/pthread.cr
@@ -26,6 +26,16 @@ module Crystal::System::Thread
     raise RuntimeError.from_os_error("pthread_create", Errno.new(ret)) unless ret == 0
   end
 
+  def self.init : Nil
+    {% if flag?(:musl) %}
+      @@main_handle = current_handle
+    {% elsif flag?(:openbsd) || flag?(:android) %}
+      ret = LibC.pthread_key_create(out current_key, nil)
+      raise RuntimeError.from_os_error("pthread_key_create", Errno.new(ret)) unless ret == 0
+      @@current_key = current_key
+    {% end %}
+  end
+
   def self.thread_proc(data : Void*) : Void*
     th = data.as(::Thread)
 
@@ -53,13 +63,7 @@ module Crystal::System::Thread
   # Android appears to support TLS to some degree, but executables fail with
   # an underaligned TLS segment, see https://github.com/crystal-lang/crystal/issues/13951
   {% if flag?(:openbsd) || flag?(:android) %}
-    @@current_key : LibC::PthreadKeyT
-
-    @@current_key = begin
-      ret = LibC.pthread_key_create(out current_key, nil)
-      raise RuntimeError.from_os_error("pthread_key_create", Errno.new(ret)) unless ret == 0
-      current_key
-    end
+    @@current_key = uninitialized LibC::PthreadKeyT
 
     def self.current_thread : ::Thread
       if ptr = LibC.pthread_getspecific(@@current_key)
@@ -84,11 +88,18 @@ module Crystal::System::Thread
     end
   {% else %}
     @[ThreadLocal]
-    class_property current_thread : ::Thread { ::Thread.new }
+    @@current_thread : ::Thread?
+
+    def self.current_thread : ::Thread
+      @@current_thread ||= ::Thread.new
+    end
 
     def self.current_thread? : ::Thread?
       @@current_thread
     end
+
+    def self.current_thread=(@@current_thread : ::Thread)
+    end
   {% end %}
 
   def self.sleep(time : ::Time::Span) : Nil
@@ -169,7 +180,7 @@ module Crystal::System::Thread
   end
 
   {% if flag?(:musl) %}
-    @@main_handle : Handle = current_handle
+    @@main_handle = uninitialized Handle
 
     def self.current_is_main?
       current_handle == @@main_handle
diff --git a/src/crystal/system/wasi/thread.cr b/src/crystal/system/wasi/thread.cr
index 1e8f6957d526..d103c7d9fc44 100644
--- a/src/crystal/system/wasi/thread.cr
+++ b/src/crystal/system/wasi/thread.cr
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 module Crystal::System::Thread
   alias Handle = Nil
 
+  def self.init : Nil
+  end
+
   def self.new_handle(thread_obj : ::Thread) : Handle
     raise NotImplementedError.new("Crystal::System::Thread.new_handle")
   end
@@ -13,7 +16,16 @@ module Crystal::System::Thread
     raise NotImplementedError.new("Crystal::System::Thread.yield_current")
   end
 
-  class_property current_thread : ::Thread { ::Thread.new }
+  def self.current_thread : ::Thread
+    @@current_thread ||= ::Thread.new
+  end
+
+  def self.current_thread? : ::Thread?
+    @@current_thread
+  end
+
+  def self.current_thread=(@@current_thread : ::Thread)
+  end
 
   def self.sleep(time : ::Time::Span) : Nil
     req = uninitialized LibC::Timespec
diff --git a/src/crystal/system/win32/thread.cr b/src/crystal/system/win32/thread.cr
index 9cb60f01ced8..2ff7ca438d87 100644
--- a/src/crystal/system/win32/thread.cr
+++ b/src/crystal/system/win32/thread.cr
@@ -20,6 +20,16 @@ module Crystal::System::Thread
     )
   end
 
+  def self.init : Nil
+    {% if flag?(:gnu) %}
+      current_key = LibC.TlsAlloc
+      if current_key == LibC::TLS_OUT_OF_INDEXES
+        Crystal::System.panic("TlsAlloc()", WinError.value)
+      end
+      @@current_key = current_key
+    {% end %}
+  end
+
   def self.thread_proc(data : Void*) : LibC::UInt
     # ensure that even in the case of stack overflow there is enough reserved
     # stack space for recovery (for the main thread this is done in
@@ -47,13 +57,7 @@ module Crystal::System::Thread
 
   # MinGW does not support TLS correctly
   {% if flag?(:gnu) %}
-    @@current_key : LibC::DWORD = begin
-      current_key = LibC.TlsAlloc
-      if current_key == LibC::TLS_OUT_OF_INDEXES
-        Crystal::System.panic("TlsAlloc()", WinError.value)
-      end
-      current_key
-    end
+    @@current_key = uninitialized LibC::DWORD
 
     def self.current_thread : ::Thread
       th = current_thread?
@@ -82,11 +86,18 @@ module Crystal::System::Thread
     end
   {% else %}
     @[ThreadLocal]
-    class_property current_thread : ::Thread { ::Thread.new }
+    @@current_thread : ::Thread?
+
+    def self.current_thread : ::Thread
+      @@current_thread ||= ::Thread.new
+    end
 
     def self.current_thread? : ::Thread?
       @@current_thread
     end
+
+    def self.current_thread=(@@current_thread : ::Thread)
+    end
   {% end %}
 
   def self.sleep(time : ::Time::Span) : Nil
diff --git a/src/fiber.cr b/src/fiber.cr
index b27c34fd6b36..3d2fe9a89797 100644
--- a/src/fiber.cr
+++ b/src/fiber.cr
@@ -44,8 +44,16 @@ end
 # notifications that IO is ready or a timeout reached. When a fiber can be woken,
 # the event loop enqueues it in the scheduler
 class Fiber
+  @@fibers = uninitialized Thread::LinkedList(Fiber)
+
+  protected def self.fibers : Thread::LinkedList(Fiber)
+    @@fibers
+  end
+
   # :nodoc:
-  protected class_getter(fibers) { Thread::LinkedList(Fiber).new }
+  def self.init : Nil
+    @@fibers = Thread::LinkedList(Fiber).new
+  end
 
   @context : Context
   @stack : Void*