diff --git a/src/ecezo/ecezo.c b/src/ecezo/ecezo.c
index 1da72cd3..f1701918 100644
--- a/src/ecezo/ecezo.c
+++ b/src/ecezo/ecezo.c
@@ -207,6 +207,14 @@ static bool ecezo_data_available(const ecezo_context dev, unsigned int millis)
 // uart init
 ecezo_context ecezo_uart_init(unsigned int uart, unsigned int baudrate)
 {
+    // make sure MRAA is initialized
+    int mraa_rv;
+    if ((mraa_rv = mraa_init()) != MRAA_SUCCESS)
+    {
+        printf("%s: mraa_init() failed (%d).\n", __FUNCTION__, mraa_rv);
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
     ecezo_context dev =
         (ecezo_context)malloc(sizeof(struct _ecezo_context));