diff --git a/src/srun/libsrun/opt.c b/src/srun/libsrun/opt.c
index 60e811e80b510af4425e91df6c5dd2eccb2e9f81..e479017092781c90680c1fb8ca51f680c7ea791e 100644
--- a/src/srun/libsrun/opt.c
+++ b/src/srun/libsrun/opt.c
@@ -1741,6 +1741,10 @@ static void _opt_args(int argc, char **argv)
 	bg_figure_nodes_tasks();
 #endif
 
+	if (launch_init() != SLURM_SUCCESS) {
+		fatal("Unable to load launch plugin, check LaunchType "
+		      "configuration");
+	}
 	command_pos = launch_g_setup_srun_opt(rest);
 
 	/* Since this is needed on an emulated system don't put this code in