diff --git a/backends/trtllm/src/ffi.cpp b/backends/trtllm/src/ffi.cpp
index 142d3a50..63043e05 100644
--- a/backends/trtllm/src/ffi.cpp
+++ b/backends/trtllm/src/ffi.cpp
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ namespace huggingface::tgi::backends {
     * @return
     */
     std::unique_ptr<TensorRtLlmBackend> create_trtllm_backend(rust::Str engineFolder, rust::Str executorWorker) {
+        // Unconditionally call this to initialize and discover TRTLLM plugins
+        InitializeBackend();
+
         const auto enginePath = std::string_view(engineFolder.begin(), engineFolder.end());
         const auto executorPath = std::string_view(executorWorker.begin(), executorWorker.end());
         return std::make_unique<TensorRtLlmBackend>(std::move(enginePath), std::move(executorPath));