diff --git a/src/detect-engine-mpm.c b/src/detect-engine-mpm.c
index bff9ca8de7..6da966a12d 100644
--- a/src/detect-engine-mpm.c
+++ b/src/detect-engine-mpm.c
@@ -817,7 +817,8 @@ void PatternMatchThreadPrint(MpmThreadCtx *mpm_thread_ctx, uint16_t mpm_matcher)
 void PatternMatchThreadDestroy(MpmThreadCtx *mpm_thread_ctx, uint16_t mpm_matcher)
 {
     SCLogDebug("mpm_thread_ctx %p, mpm_matcher %"PRIu16"", mpm_thread_ctx, mpm_matcher);
-    mpm_table[mpm_matcher].DestroyThreadCtx(NULL, mpm_thread_ctx);
+    if (mpm_table[mpm_matcher].DestroyThreadCtx != NULL)
+        mpm_table[mpm_matcher].DestroyThreadCtx(NULL, mpm_thread_ctx);
 }
 void PatternMatchThreadPrepare(MpmThreadCtx *mpm_thread_ctx, uint16_t mpm_matcher, uint32_t max_id)
 {
diff --git a/src/detect-engine.c b/src/detect-engine.c
index 8abf373de2..8d0b301ab5 100644
--- a/src/detect-engine.c
+++ b/src/detect-engine.c
@@ -966,7 +966,7 @@ void DetectEngineSpawnLiveRuleSwapMgmtThread(void)
     SCReturn;
 }
 
-DetectEngineCtx *DetectEngineCtxInit(void)
+static DetectEngineCtx *DetectEngineCtxInitReal(int minimal)
 {
     DetectEngineCtx *de_ctx;
 
@@ -981,6 +981,12 @@ DetectEngineCtx *DetectEngineCtxInit(void)
 
     memset(de_ctx,0,sizeof(DetectEngineCtx));
 
+    if (minimal) {
+        de_ctx->minimal = 1;
+        de_ctx->id = detect_engine_ctx_id++;
+        return de_ctx;
+    }
+
     if (ConfGetBool("engine.init-failure-fatal", (int *)&(de_ctx->failure_fatal)) != 1) {
         SCLogDebug("ConfGetBool could not load the value.");
     }
@@ -1037,8 +1043,6 @@ DetectEngineCtx *DetectEngineCtxInit(void)
         goto error;
     }
 
-    de_ctx->id = detect_engine_ctx_id++;
-
     /* init iprep... ignore errors for now */
     (void)SRepInit(de_ctx);
 
@@ -1053,9 +1057,21 @@ DetectEngineCtx *DetectEngineCtxInit(void)
         goto error;
     }
 
+    de_ctx->id = detect_engine_ctx_id++;
     return de_ctx;
 error:
     return NULL;
+
+}
+
+DetectEngineCtx *DetectEngineCtxInitMinimal(void)
+{
+    return DetectEngineCtxInitReal(1);
+}
+
+DetectEngineCtx *DetectEngineCtxInit(void)
+{
+    return DetectEngineCtxInitReal(0);
 }
 
 static void DetectEngineCtxFreeThreadKeywordData(DetectEngineCtx *de_ctx)
@@ -1572,9 +1588,11 @@ TmEcode DetectEngineThreadCtxInit(ThreadVars *tv, void *initdata, void **data)
 #endif
     }
 
-    if (ThreadCtxDoInit(det_ctx->de_ctx, det_ctx) != TM_ECODE_OK) {
-        DetectEngineThreadCtxDeinit(tv, det_ctx);
-        return TM_ECODE_FAILED;
+    if (det_ctx->de_ctx->minimal == 0) {
+        if (ThreadCtxDoInit(det_ctx->de_ctx, det_ctx) != TM_ECODE_OK) {
+            DetectEngineThreadCtxDeinit(tv, det_ctx);
+            return TM_ECODE_FAILED;
+        }
     }
 
     /** alert counter setup */
diff --git a/src/detect-engine.h b/src/detect-engine.h
index 1b6d553984..f500aa094f 100644
--- a/src/detect-engine.h
+++ b/src/detect-engine.h
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ extern DetectEngineAppInspectionEngine *app_inspection_engine[FLOW_PROTO_DEFAULT
 void DetectEngineRegisterAppInspectionEngines(void);
 void DetectEngineSpawnLiveRuleSwapMgmtThread(void);
 DetectEngineCtx *DetectEngineCtxInit(void);
+DetectEngineCtx *DetectEngineCtxInitMinimal(void);
 void DetectEngineCtxFree(DetectEngineCtx *);
 
 TmEcode DetectEngineThreadCtxInit(ThreadVars *, void *, void **);
diff --git a/src/detect.h b/src/detect.h
index 557b03c605..5d87616137 100644
--- a/src/detect.h
+++ b/src/detect.h
@@ -732,6 +732,9 @@ typedef struct DetectEngineCtx_ {
     struct SCProfileKeywordDetectCtx_ *profile_keyword_ctx_per_list[DETECT_SM_LIST_MAX];
 #endif
 
+    /** minimal: essentially a stub */
+    int minimal;
+
     /** how many de_ctx' are referencing this */
     uint32_t ref_cnt;
     /** list in master: either active or freelist */
diff --git a/src/suricata.c b/src/suricata.c
index 35501129d5..839c08adae 100644
--- a/src/suricata.c
+++ b/src/suricata.c
@@ -2303,7 +2303,12 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
     DetectEngineCtx *de_ctx = NULL;
     if (!suri.disabled_detect) {
-        de_ctx = DetectEngineCtxInit();
+        SetupDelayedDetect(&suri);
+        if (!suri.delayed_detect) {
+            de_ctx = DetectEngineCtxInit();
+        } else {
+            de_ctx = DetectEngineCtxInitMinimal();
+        }
         if (de_ctx == NULL) {
             SCLogError(SC_ERR_INITIALIZATION, "initializing detection engine "
                     "context failed.");
@@ -2315,7 +2320,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
             CudaVarsSetDeCtx(de_ctx);
 #endif /* __SC_CUDA_SUPPORT__ */
 
-        SetupDelayedDetect(&suri);
         if (!suri.delayed_detect) {
             if (LoadSignatures(de_ctx, &suri) != TM_ECODE_OK)
                 exit(EXIT_FAILURE);