diff --git a/gc.c b/gc.c
index 21554eeabf..7c972f5b50 100644
--- a/gc.c
+++ b/gc.c
@@ -2388,6 +2388,10 @@ Init_heap(void)
 
     gc_stress_set(objspace, ruby_initial_gc_stress);
 
+    dont_gc = 1;
+
+    gc_stress_set(objspace, ruby_initial_gc_stress);
+
 #if RGENGC_ESTIMATE_OLDMALLOC
     objspace->rgengc.oldmalloc_increase_limit = gc_params.oldmalloc_limit_min;
 #endif
@@ -2409,6 +2413,14 @@ Init_heap(void)
     finalizer_table = st_init_numtable();
 }
 
+void
+Init_gc_stress(void)
+{
+    rb_objspace_t *objspace = &rb_objspace;
+
+    dont_gc = 0;
+}
+
 typedef int each_obj_callback(void *, void *, size_t, void *);
 
 struct each_obj_args {
diff --git a/inits.c b/inits.c
index 5822f04cab..d6cc0cbc78 100644
--- a/inits.c
+++ b/inits.c
@@ -61,5 +61,6 @@ rb_call_inits(void)
     CALL(Complex);
     CALL(version);
     CALL(vm_trace);
+    CALL(gc_stress);
 }
 #undef CALL
diff --git a/version.h b/version.h
index 1cb2cd846a..0abdcb48a6 100644
--- a/version.h
+++ b/version.h
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #define RUBY_VERSION "2.5.6"
 #define RUBY_RELEASE_DATE "2019-08-27"
-#define RUBY_PATCHLEVEL 193
+#define RUBY_PATCHLEVEL 194
 
 #define RUBY_RELEASE_YEAR 2019
 #define RUBY_RELEASE_MONTH 8