diff --git a/src/kernel/core/main.c b/src/kernel/core/main.c
index 94d244cae3..486dbe05d6 100644
--- a/src/kernel/core/main.c
+++ b/src/kernel/core/main.c
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ int _start(kernel_args *oldka, int cpu);	/* keep compiler happy */
 int
 _start(kernel_args *oldka, int cpu_num)
 {
+	thread_id thread = -1;
+
 	kernel_startup = true;
 
 	if (oldka->kernel_args_size != sizeof(kernel_args)
@@ -123,10 +125,7 @@ _start(kernel_args *oldka, int cpu_num)
 		elf_init(&ka);
 
 		// start a thread to finish initializing the rest of the system
-		{
-			thread_id thread = spawn_kernel_thread(&main2, "main2", B_NORMAL_PRIORITY, NULL);
-			resume_thread(thread);
-		}
+		thread = spawn_kernel_thread(&main2, "main2", B_NORMAL_PRIORITY, NULL);
 
 		smp_wake_up_all_non_boot_cpus();
 		smp_enable_ici(); // ici's were previously being ignored
@@ -143,6 +142,9 @@ _start(kernel_args *oldka, int cpu_num)
 	kernel_startup = false;
 	enable_interrupts();
 
+	if (thread >= B_OK)
+		resume_thread(thread);
+
 	TRACE(("main: done... begin idle loop on cpu %d\n", cpu_num));
 	for (;;)
 		arch_cpu_idle();
@@ -170,11 +172,6 @@ main2(void *unused)
 	TRACE(("Bootstrap file systems\n"));
 	vfs_bootstrap_file_systems();
 
-	// before we bring up the device drivers, we better wait until
-	// interrupts become available, to make sure they'll work as expected
-	while (!are_interrupts_enabled())
-		snooze(10000);
-
 	TRACE(("Init Device Manager\n"));
 	device_manager_init(&ka);