diff --git a/src/common/common.c b/src/common/common.c
index 011f35cac9..ceb1bf38b5 100644
--- a/src/common/common.c
+++ b/src/common/common.c
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #if defined(OQS_USE_OPENSSL)
 #include <openssl/evp.h>
 #include "ossl_helpers.h"
+CRYPTO_ONCE OQS_ONCE_STATIC_FREE;
 #endif
 
 /* Identifying the CPU is expensive so we cache the results in cpu_ext_data */
@@ -216,7 +217,7 @@ OQS_API const char *OQS_version(void) {
 
 OQS_API void OQS_destroy(void) {
 #if defined(OQS_USE_OPENSSL)
-	oqs_free_ossl_objects();
+	CRYPTO_THREAD_run_once(&OQS_ONCE_STATIC_FREE, oqs_free_ossl_objects);
 #endif
 	return;
 }