diff --git a/GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameNetwork/GeneralsOnline/HTTP/HTTPManager.cpp b/GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameNetwork/GeneralsOnline/HTTP/HTTPManager.cpp
index cfbb4fdbee0..7a3f38fe3f0 100644
--- a/GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameNetwork/GeneralsOnline/HTTP/HTTPManager.cpp
+++ b/GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameNetwork/GeneralsOnline/HTTP/HTTPManager.cpp
@@ -195,9 +195,6 @@ void HTTPManager::Initialize()
 {
 	CHECK_MAIN_THREAD;
 
-    // Initialize libcurl global state
-    curl_global_init(CURL_GLOBAL_DEFAULT);
-
 	m_pCurl = curl_multi_init();
 	m_bProxyEnabled = DeterminePlatformProxySettings();
 }
diff --git a/GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameNetwork/GeneralsOnline/OnlineServices_Init.cpp b/GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameNetwork/GeneralsOnline/OnlineServices_Init.cpp
index 3530de6fcd1..688ef28eb1e 100644
--- a/GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameNetwork/GeneralsOnline/OnlineServices_Init.cpp
+++ b/GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameNetwork/GeneralsOnline/OnlineServices_Init.cpp
@@ -987,6 +987,11 @@ void NGMP_OnlineServicesManager::Tick()
 
 void NGMP_OnlineServicesManager::InitSentry()
 {
+	// Initialize libcurl global state here, before any plugins (e.g. EasyAntiCheat) are loaded.
+	// This ensures libcurl's internal mutexes are fully initialized before the EAC plugin
+	// attempts to use them, preventing an access violation in mtx_do_lock on null mutex state.
+	curl_global_init(CURL_GLOBAL_DEFAULT);
+
 #if !_DEBUG
 	std::string strDumpPath = std::format("{}/GeneralsOnlineCrashData/", TheGlobalData->getPath_UserData().str());
 	if (!std::filesystem::exists(strDumpPath))