diff --git a/src/system/runtime_loader/runtime_loader.c b/src/system/runtime_loader/runtime_loader.c
index 97b9fc0f46..7393200fbf 100644
--- a/src/system/runtime_loader/runtime_loader.c
+++ b/src/system/runtime_loader/runtime_loader.c
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ search_executable_in_path_list(const char *name, const char *pathList,
 			}
 			_kern_close(fd);
 		}
-		
+
 		pathListLen = pathListEnd - pathEnd - 1;
 		pathList = pathEnd + 1;
 	}
@@ -397,6 +397,14 @@ runtime_loader(void *_args)
 			gProgramArgs->env[i] += relocationOffset;
 	}
 
+	if (!strcmp(gProgramArgs->program_path,
+			"/boot/beos/system/runtime_loader")) {
+		// TODO: this is a (temporary) work-around for bug #2273 which causes
+		// the cache's mutex to be locked twice when starting the runtime_loader
+		// itself.
+		return 1;
+	}
+
 #if DEBUG_RLD
 	close(0); open("/dev/console", 0); /* stdin   */
 	close(1); open("/dev/console", 0); /* stdout  */