diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index b1e7a3204..8fd9cc02f 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -3157,6 +3157,7 @@ name = "rustpython-capi"
 version = "0.5.0"
 dependencies = [
  "pyo3",
+ "rustpython-pylib",
  "rustpython-stdlib",
  "rustpython-vm",
 ]
diff --git a/crates/capi/Cargo.toml b/crates/capi/Cargo.toml
index a090aaeda..c6c08ccbc 100644
--- a/crates/capi/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/capi/Cargo.toml
@@ -17,10 +17,7 @@ rustpython-stdlib = {workspace = true, features = ["threading"] }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 pyo3 = { version = "0.28", features = ["auto-initialize", "abi3"] }
+rustpython-pylib = { workspace = true, features = ["freeze-stdlib"] }
 
 [lints]
 workspace = true
-
-[package.metadata.cargo-shear]
-# Not a direct dependency (yet), but we need to enable threading support in the stdlib.
-ignored = ["rustpython-stdlib"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/crates/capi/src/pylifecycle.rs b/crates/capi/src/pylifecycle.rs
index 6760b2822..10c0df5fc 100644
--- a/crates/capi/src/pylifecycle.rs
+++ b/crates/capi/src/pylifecycle.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ use crate::pyerrors::init_exception_statics;
 use crate::pystate::ensure_thread_has_vm_attached;
 use core::ffi::c_int;
 use rustpython_vm::vm::thread::ThreadedVirtualMachine;
-use rustpython_vm::{Context, Interpreter};
+use rustpython_vm::{Context, Interpreter, Settings};
 use std::sync::Mutex;
 
 pub(crate) static MAIN_INTERP: Mutex<Option<Interpreter>> = Mutex::new(None);
@@ -32,7 +32,25 @@ pub extern "C" fn Py_InitializeEx(_initsigs: c_int) {
     if interp.is_none() {
         // Safety: Interpreter was not initialized before, so we can safely assume the statics are not used
         unsafe { init_exception_statics(&Context::genesis().exceptions) };
-        *interp = Interpreter::with_init(Default::default(), |_vm| {}).into();
+
+        let settings = Settings::default();
+        let mut builder = Interpreter::builder(settings);
+
+        let defs = rustpython_stdlib::stdlib_module_defs(&builder.ctx);
+        builder = builder.add_native_modules(&defs);
+
+        #[cfg(test)]
+        {
+            use rustpython_vm::common::rc::PyRc;
+            builder = builder
+                .add_frozen_modules(rustpython_pylib::FROZEN_STDLIB)
+                .init_hook(|vm| {
+                    let state = PyRc::get_mut(&mut vm.state).unwrap();
+                    state.config.paths.stdlib_dir = Some(rustpython_pylib::LIB_PATH.to_owned());
+                });
+        }
+
+        *interp = Some(builder.build());
         drop(interp);
         ensure_thread_has_vm_attached();
     }