diff --git a/dtable.c b/dtable.c
index cd09f35..be928b7 100644
--- a/dtable.c
+++ b/dtable.c
@@ -683,11 +683,11 @@ PRIVATE void objc_send_initialize(id object)
 		objc_send_initialize((id)class->super_class);
 	}
 
-	// Lock the runtime while we're creating dtables and before we acquire any
-	// other locks.  This prevents a lock-order reversal when
-	// dtable_for_class is called from something holding the runtime lock while
-	// we're still holding the initialize lock.  We should ensure that we never
-	// acquire the runtime lock after acquiring the initialize lock.
+	// Lock the runtime while we're creating dtables and before we acquire the
+	// init lock.  This prevents a lock-order reversal when dtable_for_class is
+	// called from something holding the runtime lock while we're still holding
+	// the initialize lock.  We should ensure that we never acquire the runtime
+	// lock after acquiring the initialize lock.
 	LOCK_RUNTIME();
 
 	// Superclass +initialize might possibly send a message to this class, in
@@ -708,7 +708,16 @@ PRIVATE void objc_send_initialize(id object)
 		return;
 	}
 
+	// We should try to acquire the class lock before any runtime/init locks.
+	// If another thread is in the middle of running `allocateHiddenClass()` it 
+	// has acquired a spinlock and will be trying to acquire the runtime lock. 
+	// When this happens there is a small chance we could hit the same spinlock
+	// and deadlock the process (as any further attempts to acquire the runtime 
+	// will also block forever).
+	UNLOCK_RUNTIME();
+
 	LOCK_OBJECT_FOR_SCOPE((id)meta);
+	LOCK_RUNTIME();
 	LOCK(&initialize_lock);
 	if (objc_test_class_flag(class, objc_class_flag_initialized))
 	{