diff --git a/src/err.c b/src/err.c
index 69dd166..567f36e 100644
--- a/src/err.c
+++ b/src/err.c
@@ -34,9 +34,6 @@ static struct error_stack_t stack = {files, funcs, lines, errors, messages, 0};
 void push_error_stack(const char *file, const char *func, int line, int err, const char *message) {
 	if (stack.size >= ERR_MAX_STACK_SIZE) return; /* unfortunate */
 	int idx = stack.size;
-	stack.files[idx] = files_buffer + (idx * ERR_MAX_FILENAME_LENGTH);
-	stack.funcs[idx] = funcs_buffer + (idx * ERR_MAX_FUNCNAME_LENGTH);
-	stack.messages[idx] = messages_buffer + (idx * ERR_MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH);
 
 	/* subtract 1 to ensure room for null byte in buffer */
 	sprintf(stack.funcs[idx], "%.*s", ERR_MAX_FUNCNAME_LENGTH - 1, func);
@@ -107,3 +104,15 @@ int init_h5_error_handling() {
 done:
 	return retval;
 }
+
+int init_error_handling() {
+	int retval = 0;
+	int idx = 0;
+	while (idx < ERR_MAX_STACK_SIZE) {
+		stack.files[idx] = files_buffer + (idx * ERR_MAX_FILENAME_LENGTH);
+		stack.funcs[idx] = funcs_buffer + (idx * ERR_MAX_FUNCNAME_LENGTH);
+		stack.messages[idx] = messages_buffer + (idx * ERR_MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH);
+		idx++;
+	}
+	return retval;
+}
diff --git a/src/err.h b/src/err.h
index c30f6f2..5830cc1 100644
--- a/src/err.h
+++ b/src/err.h
@@ -50,4 +50,6 @@ void reset_error_stack();
 
 int init_h5_error_handling();
 
+int init_error_handling();
+
 #endif /* NXS_XDS_ERR_H */
diff --git a/src/plugin.c b/src/plugin.c
index 595b955..c31609a 100644
--- a/src/plugin.c
+++ b/src/plugin.c
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ void plugin_open(
 	int retval = 0;
 	*error_flag = 0;
 
+	init_error_handling();
+
 	if (H5dont_atexit() < 0) {
 		ERROR_JUMP(-2, done, "Failed configuring HDF5 library behaviour");
 	}
diff --git a/src/test.c b/src/test.c
index 93d6d32..ec6d669 100644
--- a/src/test.c
+++ b/src/test.c
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 	int *mask = NULL;
 	int *data = NULL;
 
-	reset_error_stack();
+	init_error_handling();
 	if (init_h5_error_handling() < 0) {
 		ERROR_JUMP(-1, done, "");
 	}