diff --git a/servers/slapd/init.c b/servers/slapd/init.c
index b8e676056a..edc1689311 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/init.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/init.c
@@ -92,6 +92,8 @@ slap_init( int mode, const char *name )
 	assert( mode );
 
 	if ( slapMode != SLAP_UNDEFINED_MODE ) {
+		/* Make sure we write something to stderr */
+		ldap_debug |= 1;
 		Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_ANY,
 		 "%s init: init called twice (old=%d, new=%d)\n",
 		 name, slapMode, mode );
@@ -101,6 +103,25 @@ slap_init( int mode, const char *name )
 
 	slapMode = mode;
 
+#ifdef SLAPD_MODULES
+	if ( module_init() != 0 ) {
+		ldap_debug |= 1;
+		Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_ANY,
+		    "%s: module_init failed\n",
+			name, 0, 0 );
+		return 1;
+	}
+#endif
+
+	if ( slap_schema_init( ) != 0 ) {
+		ldap_debug |= 1;
+		Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_ANY,
+		    "%s: slap_schema_init failed\n",
+		    name, 0, 0 );
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+
 	switch ( slapMode & SLAP_MODE ) {
 	case SLAP_SERVER_MODE:
 		ldap_pvt_thread_pool_init( &connection_pool,
@@ -153,6 +174,7 @@ slap_init( int mode, const char *name )
 		break;
 
 	default:
+		ldap_debug |= 1;
 		Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_ANY,
 			"%s init: undefined mode (%d).\n", name, mode, 0 );
 
@@ -160,6 +182,49 @@ slap_init( int mode, const char *name )
 		break;
 	}
 
+	if ( slap_controls_init( ) != 0 ) {
+		ldap_debug |= 1;
+		Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_ANY,
+		    "%s: slap_controls_init failed\n",
+		    name, 0, 0 );
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+#ifdef HAVE_TLS
+	/* Library defaults to full certificate checking. This is correct when
+	 * a client is verifying a server because all servers should have a
+	 * valid cert. But few clients have valid certs, so we want our default
+	 * to be no checking. The config file can override this as usual.
+	 */
+	rc = 0;
+	(void) ldap_pvt_tls_set_option( NULL, LDAP_OPT_X_TLS_REQUIRE_CERT, &rc );
+#endif
+
+	if ( frontend_init() ) {
+		ldap_debug |= 1;
+		Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_ANY,
+		    "%s: frontend_init failed\n",
+		    name, 0, 0 );
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	if ( overlay_init() ) {
+		ldap_debug |= 1;
+		Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_ANY,
+		    "%s: overlay_init failed\n",
+		    name, 0, 0 );
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+#ifdef SLAP_DYNACL
+	if ( acl_init() ) {
+		ldap_debug |= 1;
+		Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_ANY,
+		    "%s: acl_init failed\n",
+		    name, 0, 0 );
+		return 1;
+	}
+#endif /* SLAP_DYNACL */
 	return rc;
 }
 
diff --git a/servers/slapd/main.c b/servers/slapd/main.c
index 1096af18fc..03b264513d 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/main.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/main.c
@@ -604,60 +604,12 @@ unhandled_option:;
 	lutil_passwd_init();
 	slap_op_init();
 
-#ifdef SLAPD_MODULES
-	if ( module_init() != 0 ) {
-		rc = 1;
-		SERVICE_EXIT( ERROR_SERVICE_SPECIFIC_ERROR, 17 );
-		goto destroy;
-	}
-#endif
-
-	if ( slap_schema_init( ) != 0 ) {
-		Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_ANY,
-		    "schema initialization error\n",
-		    0, 0, 0 );
-
-		goto destroy;
-	}
-
-	if ( slap_init( serverMode, serverName ) != 0 ) {
-		rc = 1;
+	rc = slap_init( serverMode, serverName );
+	if ( rc ) {
 		SERVICE_EXIT( ERROR_SERVICE_SPECIFIC_ERROR, 18 );
 		goto destroy;
 	}
 
-	if ( slap_controls_init( ) != 0 ) {
-		Debug( LDAP_DEBUG_ANY,
-		    "controls initialization error\n",
-		    0, 0, 0 );
-
-		goto destroy;
-	}
-
-#ifdef HAVE_TLS
-	/* Library defaults to full certificate checking. This is correct when
-	 * a client is verifying a server because all servers should have a
-	 * valid cert. But few clients have valid certs, so we want our default
-	 * to be no checking. The config file can override this as usual.
-	 */
-	rc = 0;
-	(void) ldap_pvt_tls_set_option( NULL, LDAP_OPT_X_TLS_REQUIRE_CERT, &rc );
-#endif
-
-	if ( frontend_init() ) {
-		goto destroy;
-	}
-
-	if ( overlay_init() ) {
-		goto destroy;
-	}
-
-#ifdef SLAP_DYNACL
-	if ( acl_init() ) {
-		goto destroy;
-	}
-#endif /* SLAP_DYNACL */
-
 	if ( read_config( configfile, configdir ) != 0 ) {
 		rc = 1;
 		SERVICE_EXIT( ERROR_SERVICE_SPECIFIC_ERROR, 19 );
diff --git a/servers/slapd/slapcommon.c b/servers/slapd/slapcommon.c
index c6418c9142..a035874ee1 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/slapcommon.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/slapcommon.c
@@ -393,44 +393,12 @@ slap_tool_init(
 	 * initialize stuff and figure out which backend we're dealing with
 	 */
 
-#ifdef SLAPD_MODULES
-	if ( module_init() != 0 ) {
-		fprintf( stderr, "%s: module_init failed!\n", progname );
-		exit( EXIT_FAILURE );
-	}
-#endif
-		
-	rc = slap_schema_init();
-
-	if ( rc != 0 ) {
-		fprintf( stderr, "%s: slap_schema_init failed!\n", progname );
-		exit( EXIT_FAILURE );
-	}
-
 	rc = slap_init( mode, progname );
-
 	if ( rc != 0 ) {
 		fprintf( stderr, "%s: slap_init failed!\n", progname );
 		exit( EXIT_FAILURE );
 	}
 
-	if ( frontend_init() ) {
-		fprintf( stderr, "%s: frontend_init failed!\n", progname );
-		exit( EXIT_FAILURE );
-	}
-
-	if ( overlay_init() ) {
-		fprintf( stderr, "%s: overlay_init failed!\n", progname );
-		exit( EXIT_FAILURE );
-	}
-
-#ifdef SLAP_DYNACL
-	if ( acl_init() ) {
-		fprintf( stderr, "%s: acl_init failed!\n", progname );
-		exit( EXIT_FAILURE );
-	}
-#endif /* SLAP_DYNACL */
-
 	rc = read_config( conffile, confdir );
 
 	if ( rc != 0 ) {