diff --git a/changes/bug18668 b/changes/bug18668
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4b186b5c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/bug18668
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+  o Minor bugfixes (tests):
+    - Avoid "WSANOTINITIALISED" warnings in the unit tests. Fixes bug 18668;
+      bugfix on 0.2.8.1-alpha.
diff --git a/src/test/testing_common.c b/src/test/testing_common.c
index aeb1fa794..39c3d02ab 100644
--- a/src/test/testing_common.c
+++ b/src/test/testing_common.c
@@ -242,6 +242,8 @@ main(int c, const char **v)
   options = options_new();
   tor_threads_init();
 
+  network_init();
+
   struct tor_libevent_cfg cfg;
   memset(&cfg, 0, sizeof(cfg));
   tor_libevent_initialize(&cfg);
@@ -284,7 +286,6 @@ main(int c, const char **v)
     return 1;
   }
   rep_hist_init();
-  network_init();
   setup_directory();
   options_init(options);
   options->DataDirectory = tor_strdup(temp_dir);