diff --git a/src/util/dstring.h b/src/util/dstring.h
index ae25a395071..d7b2c76409d 100644
--- a/src/util/dstring.h
+++ b/src/util/dstring.h
@@ -46,13 +46,13 @@ class dstringt final
 
   // this one is not safe for static objects
   // NOLINTNEXTLINE(runtime/explicit)
-  dstringt(const char *s):no(string_container[s])
+  dstringt(const char *s):no(get_string_container()[s])
   {
   }
 
   // this one is not safe for static objects
   // NOLINTNEXTLINE(runtime/explicit)
-  dstringt(const std::string &s):no(string_container[s])
+  dstringt(const std::string &s):no(get_string_container()[s])
   {
   }
 
@@ -152,12 +152,12 @@ class dstringt final
 
   // the reference returned is guaranteed to be stable
   const std::string &as_string() const
-  { return string_container.get_string(no); }
+  { return get_string_container().get_string(no); }
 };
 
 // the reference returned is guaranteed to be stable
 inline const std::string &as_string(const dstringt &s)
-{ return string_container.get_string(s.get_no()); }
+{ return get_string_container().get_string(s.get_no()); }
 
 // NOLINTNEXTLINE(readability/identifiers)
 struct dstring_hash
diff --git a/src/util/irep_ids.cpp b/src/util/irep_ids.cpp
index abded937922..5151cd92fed 100644
--- a/src/util/irep_ids.cpp
+++ b/src/util/irep_ids.cpp
@@ -43,14 +43,15 @@ const char *irep_ids_table[]=
 
 #include "irep_ids.def" // NOLINT(build/include)
 
-void initialize_string_container()
+string_containert::string_containert()
 {
-  // this is called by the constructor of string_containert
+  // pre-allocate empty string -- this gets index 0
+  get("");
 
+  // allocate strings
   for(unsigned i=0; irep_ids_table[i]!=nullptr; i++)
   {
-    unsigned x;
-    x=string_container[irep_ids_table[i]];
+    unsigned x=operator[](irep_ids_table[i]);
     INVARIANT(x==i, "i-th element is inserted at position i"); // sanity check
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/util/string_container.cpp b/src/util/string_container.cpp
index 8793666506a..4a8cee9b54a 100644
--- a/src/util/string_container.cpp
+++ b/src/util/string_container.cpp
@@ -13,8 +13,6 @@ Author: Daniel Kroening, kroening@kroening.com
 
 #include <cstring>
 
-string_containert string_container;
-
 string_ptrt::string_ptrt(const char *_s):s(_s), len(strlen(_s))
 {
 }
@@ -27,17 +25,6 @@ bool string_ptrt::operator==(const string_ptrt &other) const
   return len==0 || memcmp(s, other.s, len)==0;
 }
 
-void initialize_string_container();
-
-string_containert::string_containert()
-{
-  // pre-allocate empty string -- this gets index 0
-  get("");
-
-  // allocate strings
-  initialize_string_container();
-}
-
 string_containert::~string_containert()
 {
 }
@@ -87,3 +74,10 @@ unsigned string_containert::get(const std::string &s)
 
   return r;
 }
+
+/// Get a reference to the global string container.
+string_containert &get_string_container()
+{
+  static string_containert ret;
+  return ret;
+}
diff --git a/src/util/string_container.h b/src/util/string_container.h
index 59a5daff0b8..eca7d89bea3 100644
--- a/src/util/string_container.h
+++ b/src/util/string_container.h
@@ -89,7 +89,6 @@ class string_containert
   string_vectort string_vector;
 };
 
-// an ugly global object
-extern string_containert string_container;
+string_containert &get_string_container();
 
 #endif // CPROVER_UTIL_STRING_CONTAINER_H