diff --git a/miniserv.pl b/miniserv.pl
index 8c95226b0..24081f8a1 100755
--- a/miniserv.pl
+++ b/miniserv.pl
@@ -879,13 +879,6 @@ while(1) {
 				$SIG{'HUP'} = 'IGNORE';
 				$SIG{'USR1'} = 'IGNORE';
 
-				# Initialize SSL for this connection
-				if ($use_ssl) {
-					$ssl_con = &ssl_connection_for_ip(
-							SOCK, $ipv6fhs{$s});
-					$ssl_con || exit;
-					}
-
 				# Close the file handle for the session DBM
 				dbmclose(%sessiondb);
 
@@ -897,6 +890,13 @@ while(1) {
 				&close_all_sockets();
 				close(LISTEN);
 
+				# Initialize SSL for this connection
+				if ($use_ssl) {
+					$ssl_con = &ssl_connection_for_ip(
+							SOCK, $ipv6fhs{$s});
+					$ssl_con || exit;
+					}
+
 				print DEBUG
 				  "main: Starting handle_request loop pid=$$\n";
 				while(&handle_request($peera, $locala,