diff --git a/src/vpp-api/client/client.c b/src/vpp-api/client/client.c
index 0d7b1dc..2127a62 100644
--- a/src/vpp-api/client/client.c
+++ b/src/vpp-api/client/client.c
@@ -79,6 +79,9 @@
 bool rx_is_running = false;
 bool timeout_thread_cancelled = false;
 
+/* Only ever allocate one heap */
+bool mem_initialized = false;
+
 static void
 init (void)
 {
@@ -564,8 +567,11 @@
 void
 vac_mem_init (size_t size)
 {
+  if (mem_initialized)
+    return;
   if (size == 0)
     clib_mem_init (0, 1 << 30);  // default
   else
     clib_mem_init (0, size);
+  mem_initialized = true;
 }
diff --git a/src/vpp-api/python/vpp_papi/vpp_stats.py b/src/vpp-api/python/vpp_papi/vpp_stats.py
index 1a65c8e..5eb2b9d 100644
--- a/src/vpp-api/python/vpp_papi/vpp_stats.py
+++ b/src/vpp-api/python/vpp_papi/vpp_stats.py
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@
 uint64_t stat_segment_version(void);
 uint64_t stat_segment_version_r(stat_client_main_t *sm);
 void free(void *ptr);
+void vac_mem_init (size_t size);
 """)  # noqa: E501
 
 
@@ -203,6 +204,7 @@
         except Exception:
             raise VPPStatsClientLoadError("Could not open: %s" %
                                           VPPStats.sharedlib_name)
+        self.api.vac_mem_init(0)
 
     def connect(self):
         self.client = self.api.stat_client_get()
diff --git a/src/vpp-api/python/vpp_papi/vpp_transport_shmem.py b/src/vpp-api/python/vpp_papi/vpp_transport_shmem.py
index fbf19e4..fa8943f 100644
--- a/src/vpp-api/python/vpp_papi/vpp_transport_shmem.py
+++ b/src/vpp-api/python/vpp_papi/vpp_transport_shmem.py
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@
         global vpp_object
         vpp_object = parent
 
-        vpp_api.vac_mem_init(0);
+        vpp_api.vac_mem_init(0)
 
         # Register error handler
         vpp_api.vac_set_error_handler(vac_error_handler)
diff --git a/test/test_stats_client.py b/test/test_stats_client.py
index 7d0c91f..ced5871 100644
--- a/test/test_stats_client.py
+++ b/test/test_stats_client.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 
 import unittest
-import time
 import psutil
 from vpp_papi.vpp_stats import VPPStats