diff --git a/sys/mips/mips/machdep.c b/sys/mips/mips/machdep.c
index fd0f83e5df98..666f78b78cab 100644
--- a/sys/mips/mips/machdep.c
+++ b/sys/mips/mips/machdep.c
@@ -213,7 +213,6 @@ cpu_startup(void *dummy)
 	printf("avail memory = %ju (%juMB)\n", 
 	    ptoa((uintmax_t)vm_free_count()),
 	    ptoa((uintmax_t)vm_free_count()) / 1048576);
-	cpu_init_interrupts();
 
 	/*
 	 * Set up buffers, so they can be used to read disk labels.
@@ -222,6 +221,14 @@ cpu_startup(void *dummy)
 	vm_pager_bufferinit();
 }
 
+static void
+cpu_intr_init(void *dummy __unused)
+{
+
+	cpu_init_interrupts();
+}
+SYSINIT(cpu_intr_init, SI_SUB_INTR, SI_ORDER_SECOND, cpu_intr_init, NULL);
+
 /*
  * Shutdown the CPU as much as possible
  */