diff --git a/dmenu.c b/dmenu.c
index bde0869..34d0943 100644
--- a/dmenu.c
+++ b/dmenu.c
@@ -918,6 +918,21 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	XWindowAttributes wa;
 	int i, fast = 0;
 
+	if (!setlocale(LC_CTYPE, "") || !XSupportsLocale())
+		fputs("warning: no locale support\n", stderr);
+	if (!(dpy = XOpenDisplay(NULL)))
+		die("cannot open display");
+	screen = DefaultScreen(dpy);
+	root = RootWindow(dpy, screen);
+	if (!embed || !(parentwin = strtol(embed, NULL, 0)))
+		parentwin = root;
+	if (!XGetWindowAttributes(dpy, parentwin, &wa))
+		die("could not get embedding window attributes: 0x%lx",
+		    parentwin);
+	xinitvisual();
+	drw = drw_create(dpy, screen, root, wa.width, wa.height, visual, depth, cmap);
+	read_Xresources();
+
 	for (i = 1; i < argc; i++)
 		/* these options take no arguments */
 		if (!strcmp(argv[i], "-v")) {      /* prints version information */
@@ -958,20 +973,6 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		else
 			usage();
 
-	if (!setlocale(LC_CTYPE, "") || !XSupportsLocale())
-		fputs("warning: no locale support\n", stderr);
-	if (!(dpy = XOpenDisplay(NULL)))
-		die("cannot open display");
-	screen = DefaultScreen(dpy);
-	root = RootWindow(dpy, screen);
-	if (!embed || !(parentwin = strtol(embed, NULL, 0)))
-		parentwin = root;
-	if (!XGetWindowAttributes(dpy, parentwin, &wa))
-		die("could not get embedding window attributes: 0x%lx",
-		    parentwin);
-	xinitvisual();
-	drw = drw_create(dpy, screen, root, wa.width, wa.height, visual, depth, cmap);
-	read_Xresources();
 	if (!drw_fontset_create(drw, fonts, LENGTH(fonts)))
 		die("no fonts could be loaded.");
 	lrpad = drw->fonts->h;
@@ -993,3 +994,4 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	return 1; /* unreachable */
 }
+