diff --git a/src/options.c b/src/options.c
index 919884bd..01620e75 100644
--- a/src/options.c
+++ b/src/options.c
@@ -111,25 +111,34 @@ void mi_option_enable_default(mi_option_t option, bool enable) {
 #define MAX_ERROR_COUNT (10)
 static uintptr_t error_count = 0;  // when MAX_ERROR_COUNT stop emitting errors and warnings
 
+// When overriding malloc, we may recurse into mi_vfprintf if an allocation
+// inside the C runtime causes another message.
+static mi_decl_thread bool recurse = false;
+
 // Define our own limited `fprintf` that avoids memory allocation.
 // We do this using `snprintf` with a limited buffer.
 static void mi_vfprintf( FILE* out, const char* prefix, const char* fmt, va_list args ) {
   char buf[256];
   if (fmt==NULL) return;
+  if (_mi_preloading() || recurse) return;
+  recurse = true;
   if (out==NULL) out = stdout;
-  if (_mi_preloading()) return;
   vsnprintf(buf,sizeof(buf)-1,fmt,args);
   #ifdef _WIN32
-  // on windows with redirection, the C runtime uses us and we cannot call `fputs`
-  // while called from the C runtime itself, so use a non-locking option
+  // on windows with redirection, the C runtime cannot handle locale dependent output 
+  // after the main thread closes so use direct console output.
   if (out==stderr) {
     if (prefix != NULL) _cputs(prefix);
     _cputs(buf);
-    return;
   }
+  else 
   #endif
-  if (prefix != NULL) fputs(prefix,out);
-  fputs(buf,out);
+  {  
+    if (prefix != NULL) fputs(prefix,out);
+    fputs(buf,out);
+  }
+  recurse = false;
+  return;
 }
 
 void _mi_fprintf( FILE* out, const char* fmt, ... ) {