diff --git a/src/node.cc b/src/node.cc
index d20a7cfe91cc8c..82128eb22aba66 100644
--- a/src/node.cc
+++ b/src/node.cc
@@ -782,6 +782,9 @@ int InitializeNodeWithArgs(std::vector<std::string>* argv,
   // Make sure InitializeNodeWithArgs() is called only once.
   CHECK(!init_called.exchange(true));
 
+  // Initialize node_start_time to get relative uptime.
+  per_process::node_start_time = uv_hrtime();
+
   // Register built-in modules
   binding::RegisterBuiltinModules();
 
@@ -961,7 +964,6 @@ void Init(int* argc,
 InitializationResult InitializeOncePerProcess(int argc, char** argv) {
   atexit(ResetStdio);
   PlatformInit();
-  per_process::node_start_time = uv_hrtime();
 
   CHECK_GT(argc, 0);