diff --git a/src/core/utils/hash.rs b/src/core/utils/hash.rs
index 9412228f..d6efaff9 100644
--- a/src/core/utils/hash.rs
+++ b/src/core/utils/hash.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use std::sync::Mutex;
+use std::sync::OnceLock;
 
 use argon2::{
 	password_hash, password_hash::SaltString, Algorithm, Argon2, Params, PasswordHash, PasswordHasher,
@@ -9,10 +9,24 @@ const M_COST: u32 = Params::DEFAULT_M_COST; // memory size in 1 KiB blocks
 const T_COST: u32 = Params::DEFAULT_T_COST; // nr of iterations
 const P_COST: u32 = Params::DEFAULT_P_COST; // parallelism
 
-static STATE: Mutex<Option<Argon2<'static>>> = Mutex::new(None);
+static ARGON: OnceLock<Argon2<'static>> = OnceLock::new();
 
-#[allow(clippy::let_underscore_must_use)]
-pub fn init() {
+pub fn password(password: &str) -> Result<String, password_hash::Error> {
+	let salt = SaltString::generate(rand::thread_rng());
+	ARGON
+		.get_or_init(init_argon)
+		.hash_password(password.as_bytes(), &salt)
+		.map(|it| it.to_string())
+}
+
+pub fn verify_password(password: &str, password_hash: &str) -> Result<(), password_hash::Error> {
+	let password_hash = PasswordHash::new(password_hash)?;
+	ARGON
+		.get_or_init(init_argon)
+		.verify_password(password.as_bytes(), &password_hash)
+}
+
+fn init_argon() -> Argon2<'static> {
 	// 19456 Kib blocks, iterations = 2, parallelism = 1
 	// * <https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/Password_Storage_Cheat_Sheet.html#argon2id>
 	debug_assert!(M_COST == 19_456, "M_COST default changed");
@@ -23,29 +37,7 @@ pub fn init() {
 	let version = Version::default();
 	let out_len: Option<usize> = None;
 	let params = Params::new(M_COST, T_COST, P_COST, out_len).expect("valid parameters");
-	let state = Argon2::new(algorithm, version, params);
-	_ = STATE.lock().expect("hashing state locked").insert(state);
-}
-
-pub fn password(password: &str) -> Result<String, password_hash::Error> {
-	let salt = SaltString::generate(rand::thread_rng());
-	STATE
-		.lock()
-		.expect("hashing state locked")
-		.as_ref()
-		.expect("hashing state initialized")
-		.hash_password(password.as_bytes(), &salt)
-		.map(|it| it.to_string())
-}
-
-pub fn verify_password(password: &str, password_hash: &str) -> Result<(), password_hash::Error> {
-	let password_hash = PasswordHash::new(password_hash)?;
-	STATE
-		.lock()
-		.expect("hashing state locked")
-		.as_ref()
-		.expect("hashing state initialized")
-		.verify_password(password.as_bytes(), &password_hash)
+	Argon2::new(algorithm, version, params)
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
@@ -53,7 +45,6 @@ mod tests {
 	#[test]
 	fn password_hash_and_verify() {
 		use crate::utils::hash;
-		hash::init();
 		let preimage = "temp123";
 		let digest = hash::password(preimage).expect("digest");
 		hash::verify_password(preimage, &digest).expect("verified");
@@ -63,7 +54,6 @@ mod tests {
 	#[should_panic(expected = "unverified")]
 	fn password_hash_and_verify_fail() {
 		use crate::utils::hash;
-		hash::init();
 		let preimage = "temp123";
 		let fakeimage = "temp321";
 		let digest = hash::password(preimage).expect("digest");
diff --git a/src/main/server.rs b/src/main/server.rs
index 08d81d01..dfe75541 100644
--- a/src/main/server.rs
+++ b/src/main/server.rs
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ use conduit::{
 	config::Config,
 	info,
 	log::{self},
-	utils::{hash, sys},
+	utils::sys,
 	Error, Result,
 };
 use tokio::runtime;
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ impl Server {
 
 		#[cfg(unix)]
 		sys::maximize_fd_limit().expect("Unable to increase maximum soft and hard file descriptor limit");
-		hash::init();
 
 		info!(
 			server_name = %config.server_name,