diff --git a/.changes/explicit_gtk_init.md b/.changes/explicit_gtk_init.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4b51f84b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changes/explicit_gtk_init.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"tao": patch
+---
+
+Call `gtk::init` when creating the eventloop to fix crashes with some gtk APIs.
diff --git a/src/platform_impl/linux/event_loop.rs b/src/platform_impl/linux/event_loop.rs
index e39ee9f19..39bb014d3 100644
--- a/src/platform_impl/linux/event_loop.rs
+++ b/src/platform_impl/linux/event_loop.rs
@@ -215,6 +215,8 @@ impl<T: 'static> EventLoop<T> {
   }
 
   fn new_gtk(app_id: Option<&str>) -> Result<EventLoop<T>, Box<dyn Error>> {
+    // This should be done by gtk::Application::new, but does not work properly
+    gtk::init()?;
     let context = MainContext::default();
     let app = gtk::Application::new(app_id, gio::ApplicationFlags::empty());
     let app_ = app.clone();