diff --git a/include/frnetlib/Listener.h b/include/frnetlib/Listener.h
index b9beb62..c109acb 100644
--- a/include/frnetlib/Listener.h
+++ b/include/frnetlib/Listener.h
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ namespace fr
         Listener()
         : ai_family(AF_UNSPEC)
         {
-
+            init_wsa();
         }
 
         virtual ~Listener() = default;
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ namespace fr
         }
 
     protected:
+
         int ai_family;
     };
 }
diff --git a/include/frnetlib/NetworkEncoding.h b/include/frnetlib/NetworkEncoding.h
index f471146..a8cf8c6 100644
--- a/include/frnetlib/NetworkEncoding.h
+++ b/include/frnetlib/NetworkEncoding.h
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@
 
 #include <cstring>
 #include <cstdint>
+#include <atomic>
+#include <exception>
+#include <stdexcept>
+#include <csignal>
 
 //Windows and UNIX require some different headers.
 //We also need some compatibility defines for cross platform support.
@@ -40,38 +44,38 @@
 
 inline float htonf(float val)
 {
-	uint32_t ret;
-	memcpy(&ret, &val, sizeof(ret));
-	ret = htonl(ret);
-	memcpy(&val, &ret, sizeof(val));
-	return val;
+    uint32_t ret;
+    memcpy(&ret, &val, sizeof(ret));
+    ret = htonl(ret);
+    memcpy(&val, &ret, sizeof(val));
+    return val;
 }
 
 inline float ntohf(float val)
 {
-	uint32_t ret;
-	memcpy(&ret, &val, sizeof(ret));
-	ret = ntohl(ret);
-	memcpy(&val, &ret, sizeof(val));
-	return val;
+    uint32_t ret;
+    memcpy(&ret, &val, sizeof(ret));
+    ret = ntohl(ret);
+    memcpy(&val, &ret, sizeof(val));
+    return val;
 }
 
 inline double htond(double val)
 {
-	uint64_t ret;
-	memcpy(&ret, &val, sizeof(ret));
-	ret = htonll(ret);
-	memcpy(&val, &ret, sizeof(val));
-	return val;
+    uint64_t ret;
+    memcpy(&ret, &val, sizeof(ret));
+    ret = htonll(ret);
+    memcpy(&val, &ret, sizeof(val));
+    return val;
 }
 
 inline double ntohd(double val)
 {
-	uint64_t ret;
-	memcpy(&ret, &val, sizeof(ret));
-	ret = ntohll(ret);
-	memcpy(&val, &ret, sizeof(val));
-	return val;
+    uint64_t ret;
+    memcpy(&ret, &val, sizeof(ret));
+    ret = ntohll(ret);
+    memcpy(&val, &ret, sizeof(val));
+    return val;
 }
 
 inline void set_unix_socket_blocking(int32_t socket_descriptor, bool is_blocking_already, bool should_block)
@@ -90,5 +94,23 @@ inline void set_unix_socket_blocking(int32_t socket_descriptor, bool is_blocking
 #endif
 }
 
+static void init_wsa()
+{
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    static WSADATA wsaData = WSAData();
+    static std::atomic<uint32_t> instance_count{0};
+    if(instance_count++ == 0)
+    {
+        int wsa_result = WSAStartup(MAKEWORD(2, 2), &wsaData);
+        if(wsa_result != 0)
+        {
+            throw std::runtime_error("Failed to initialise WSA: " + std::to_string(wsa_result));
+        }
+    }
+#else
+    signal(SIGPIPE, SIG_IGN);
+#endif
+}
+
 
 #endif //FRNETLIB_NETWORKENCODING_H
diff --git a/include/frnetlib/Socket.h b/include/frnetlib/Socket.h
index d84c62d..f3fddf8 100644
--- a/include/frnetlib/Socket.h
+++ b/include/frnetlib/Socket.h
@@ -229,10 +229,6 @@ namespace fr
         std::mutex inbound_mutex;
         int ai_family;
         uint32_t max_receive_size;
-        #ifdef _WIN32
-                static WSADATA wsaData;
-        #endif // _WIN32
-        static uint32_t instance_count;
     };
 }
 
diff --git a/src/Socket.cpp b/src/Socket.cpp
index 457324c..0bcb658 100644
--- a/src/Socket.cpp
+++ b/src/Socket.cpp
@@ -10,31 +10,12 @@
 
 namespace fr
 {
-    #ifdef _WIN32
-        WSADATA Socket::wsaData = WSADATA();
-    #endif // _WIN32
-    uint32_t Socket::instance_count = 0;
-
     Socket::Socket() noexcept
     : is_blocking(true),
       ai_family(AF_UNSPEC),
       max_receive_size(0)
     {
-            if(instance_count == 0)
-            {
-                #ifdef _WIN32
-                    int wsa_result = WSAStartup(MAKEWORD(2, 2), &wsaData);
-                    if(wsa_result != 0)
-                    {
-                        std::cout << "Failed to initialise WSA." << std::endl;
-                        return;
-                    }
-                #else
-                    //Disable SIGPIPE
-                    signal(SIGPIPE, SIG_IGN);
-                #endif // _WIN32
-            }
-			instance_count++;
+        init_wsa();
     }
 
     Socket::Status Socket::send(Sendable &obj)