diff --git a/Lib/distutils/msvccompiler.py b/Lib/distutils/msvccompiler.py
index 8106df61777b..b94d35f15f4d 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/msvccompiler.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/msvccompiler.py
@@ -255,6 +255,7 @@ def initialize(self):
                 ]
         self.ldflags_static = [ '/nologo']
 
+        self.initialized = True
 
     # -- Worker methods ------------------------------------------------