diff --git a/config/application.rb b/config/application.rb
index 91c8782d..c481b600 100644
--- a/config/application.rb
+++ b/config/application.rb
@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ module CodeOcean
     config.after_initialize do
       # Initialize the counters according to the db
       Prometheus::Controller.initialize_metrics
+
+      # Initialize the runner environment
+      Runner.strategy_class.initialize_environment
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/config/initializers/docker.rb b/config/initializers/docker.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index 518d2d46..00000000
--- a/config/initializers/docker.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-# frozen_string_literal: true
-
-require 'docker_client'
-
-DockerClient.initialize_environment unless Rails.env.test? && `which docker`.blank?
diff --git a/lib/runner/strategy.rb b/lib/runner/strategy.rb
index 418c679e..9a19b77b 100644
--- a/lib/runner/strategy.rb
+++ b/lib/runner/strategy.rb
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@ class Runner::Strategy
     raise NotImplementedError
   end
 
+  def self.initialize_environment
+    raise NotImplementedError
+  end
+
   def self.available_images
     raise NotImplementedError
   end
diff --git a/lib/runner/strategy/docker_container_pool.rb b/lib/runner/strategy/docker_container_pool.rb
index 272278a3..056da47d 100644
--- a/lib/runner/strategy/docker_container_pool.rb
+++ b/lib/runner/strategy/docker_container_pool.rb
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ class Runner::Strategy::DockerContainerPool < Runner::Strategy
     @config ||= CodeOcean::Config.new(:docker).read(erb: true)
   end
 
+  def self.initialize_environment
+    DockerClient.initialize_environment unless Rails.env.test? && `which docker`.blank?
+  end
+
   def self.available_images
     DockerClient.check_availability!
     DockerClient.image_tags
diff --git a/lib/runner/strategy/poseidon.rb b/lib/runner/strategy/poseidon.rb
index d3c27bd2..15f7d8e9 100644
--- a/lib/runner/strategy/poseidon.rb
+++ b/lib/runner/strategy/poseidon.rb
@@ -13,6 +13,11 @@ class Runner::Strategy::Poseidon < Runner::Strategy
     @config ||= CodeOcean::Config.new(:code_ocean).read[:runner_management] || {}
   end
 
+  def self.initialize_environment
+    # There is no additional initialization required for Poseidon
+    nil
+  end
+
   def self.available_images
     # Images are pulled when needed for a new execution environment
     # and cleaned up automatically if no longer in use.