diff --git a/lokimq/lokimq.cpp b/lokimq/lokimq.cpp
index 5fd2190..1c40c27 100644
--- a/lokimq/lokimq.cpp
+++ b/lokimq/lokimq.cpp
@@ -201,6 +201,9 @@ LokiMQ::LokiMQ(
 
     LMQ_TRACE("Constructing LokiMQ, id=", object_id, ", this=", this);
 
+    if (sodium_init() == -1)
+        throw std::runtime_error{"libsodium initialization failed"};
+
     if (pubkey.empty() != privkey.empty()) {
         throw std::invalid_argument("LokiMQ construction failed: one (and only one) of pubkey/privkey is empty. Both must be specified, or both empty to generate a key.");
     } else if (pubkey.empty()) {
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index 2791387..f792fc0 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -16,10 +16,8 @@ set(LMQ_TEST_SRC
 add_executable(tests ${LMQ_TEST_SRC})
 
 find_package(Threads)
-find_package(PkgConfig REQUIRED)
-pkg_check_modules(SODIUM REQUIRED libsodium)
 
-target_link_libraries(tests Catch2::Catch2 lokimq ${SODIUM_LIBRARIES} Threads::Threads)
+target_link_libraries(tests Catch2::Catch2 lokimq Threads::Threads)
 
 set_target_properties(tests PROPERTIES
     CXX_STANDARD 17
diff --git a/tests/test_connect.cpp b/tests/test_connect.cpp
index 0ea0084..851c36b 100644
--- a/tests/test_connect.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_connect.cpp
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ TEST_CASE("self-connection SN optimization", "[connect][self]") {
     std::string pubkey, privkey;
     pubkey.resize(crypto_box_PUBLICKEYBYTES);
     privkey.resize(crypto_box_SECRETKEYBYTES);
+    REQUIRE(sodium_init() != -1);
     crypto_box_keypair(reinterpret_cast<unsigned char*>(&pubkey[0]), reinterpret_cast<unsigned char*>(&privkey[0]));
     LokiMQ sn{
         pubkey, privkey,
@@ -188,6 +189,7 @@ TEST_CASE("SN disconnections", "[connect][disconnect]") {
     std::vector<std::unique_ptr<LokiMQ>> lmq;
     std::vector<std::string> pubkey, privkey;
     std::unordered_map<std::string, std::string> conn;
+    REQUIRE(sodium_init() != -1);
     for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
         pubkey.emplace_back();
         privkey.emplace_back();
@@ -234,6 +236,7 @@ TEST_CASE("SN auth checks", "[sandwich][auth]") {
     std::string pubkey, privkey;
     pubkey.resize(crypto_box_PUBLICKEYBYTES);
     privkey.resize(crypto_box_SECRETKEYBYTES);
+    REQUIRE(sodium_init() != -1);
     crypto_box_keypair(reinterpret_cast<unsigned char*>(&pubkey[0]), reinterpret_cast<unsigned char*>(&privkey[0]));
     LokiMQ server{
         pubkey, privkey,