diff --git a/atom/browser/api/atom_api_protocol.cc b/atom/browser/api/atom_api_protocol.cc
index fdc5ba422bd3..d7d308b306ed 100644
--- a/atom/browser/api/atom_api_protocol.cc
+++ b/atom/browser/api/atom_api_protocol.cc
@@ -355,6 +355,10 @@ int Protocol::InterceptProtocolInIO(const std::string& scheme,
                                     const JsProtocolHandler& handler) {
   DCHECK_CURRENTLY_ON(BrowserThread::IO);
 
+  // Force the request context to initialize, otherwise we might have nothing
+  // to intercept.
+  request_context_getter_->GetURLRequestContext();
+
   if (!job_factory_->HasProtocolHandler(scheme))
     return ERR_NO_SCHEME;