diff --git a/keyserver/src/keyserver.js b/keyserver/src/keyserver.js
--- a/keyserver/src/keyserver.js
+++ b/keyserver/src/keyserver.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 // @flow
 
+import olm from '@matrix-org/olm';
 import cluster from 'cluster';
 import cookieParser from 'cookie-parser';
 import express from 'express';
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@
 } from './utils/urls.js';
 
 (async () => {
+  await olm.init();
   await prefetchAllURLFacts();
 
   const squadCalBaseRoutePath = getSquadCalURLFacts()?.baseRoutePath;
diff --git a/keyserver/src/responders/user-responders.js b/keyserver/src/responders/user-responders.js
--- a/keyserver/src/responders/user-responders.js
+++ b/keyserver/src/responders/user-responders.js
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 // @flow
 
-import olm from '@matrix-org/olm';
 import invariant from 'invariant';
 import { ErrorTypes, SiweMessage } from 'siwe';
 import t from 'tcomb';
@@ -94,6 +93,7 @@
 } from '../updaters/account-updaters.js';
 import { userSubscriptionUpdater } from '../updaters/user-subscription-updaters.js';
 import { viewerAcknowledgmentUpdater } from '../updaters/viewer-acknowledgment-updater.js';
+import { getOLMUtility } from '../utils/olm-utils.js';
 import { validateInput } from '../utils/validation-utils.js';
 
 const subscriptionUpdateRequestInputValidator = tShape({
@@ -342,8 +342,7 @@
       signedIdentityKeysBlob.payload,
     );
 
-    await olm.init();
-    const olmUtil = new olm.Utility();
+    const olmUtil = getOLMUtility();
     try {
       olmUtil.ed25519_verify(
         identityKeys.primaryIdentityPublicKeys.ed25519,
diff --git a/keyserver/src/utils/olm-utils.js b/keyserver/src/utils/olm-utils.js
--- a/keyserver/src/utils/olm-utils.js
+++ b/keyserver/src/utils/olm-utils.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 // @flow
 
+import olm from '@matrix-org/olm';
 import invariant from 'invariant';
 
 import { importJSON } from './import-json.js';
@@ -25,4 +26,13 @@
   ) => void,
 };
 
-export { getOlmConfig };
+let cachedOLMUtility: OLMUtility;
+function getOLMUtility(): OLMUtility {
+  if (cachedOLMUtility) {
+    return cachedOLMUtility;
+  }
+  cachedOLMUtility = new olm.Utility();
+  return cachedOLMUtility;
+}
+
+export { getOlmConfig, getOLMUtility };