diff --git a/src/init.c b/src/init.c
index 81aca206..cc96e993 100644
--- a/src/init.c
+++ b/src/init.c
@@ -97,7 +97,12 @@ const mi_page_t _mi_page_empty = {
 // may lead to allocation itself on some platforms)
 // --------------------------------------------------------
 
-static mi_decl_cache_align mi_subproc_t subproc_main = { 0 };  // note: empty initializer to prevent running the constructor (in C++ compilation)
+static mi_decl_cache_align mi_subproc_t subproc_main
+#if __cplusplus
+= { };     // empty initializer to prevent running the constructor (with msvc)
+#else
+= { 0 };   // C zero initialize
+#endif
 
 static mi_decl_cache_align mi_tld_t tld_empty = {
   0,                      // thread_id