diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 99301f7bf..a0239fca5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 - Native: don't dump the crash daemon's log to `stderr` on shutdown unless debug logging is enabled, so terminal applications stay quiet when `debug` is off. ([#1910](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-native/pull/1910))
 - Native/Windows: capture heap corruption crashes reported as `STATUS_HEAP_CORRUPTION` (`0xC0000374`). ([#1909](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-native/pull/1909))
 - Native/Linux: add support for `sentry_options_set_handler_strategy(SENTRY_HANDLER_STRATEGY_CHAIN_AT_START)`. ([#1912](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-native/pull/1912))
+- Windows: the default thread stack guarantee is now actually applied in static builds and is also set by the native backend, so crash handling can run after a stack overflow. ([#1918](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-native/pull/1918))
 
 ## 0.15.4
 
diff --git a/src/backends/sentry_backend_native.c b/src/backends/sentry_backend_native.c
index 7bef920da..1a685843d 100644
--- a/src/backends/sentry_backend_native.c
+++ b/src/backends/sentry_backend_native.c
@@ -191,6 +191,11 @@ native_backend_startup(
                 "development.");
     SENTRY_DEBUG("starting native backend");
 
+#if defined(SENTRY_PLATFORM_WINDOWS) && !defined(SENTRY_BUILD_SHARED)          \
+    && defined(SENTRY_THREAD_STACK_GUARANTEE_AUTO_INIT)
+    sentry__set_default_thread_stack_guarantee();
+#endif
+
 #if defined(SENTRY_PLATFORM_WINDOWS)
     // Create process-wide mutex for IPC synchronization (Windows)
     // Use portable mutex to protect Windows mutex creation
diff --git a/src/sentry_core.c b/src/sentry_core.c
index ce47a38d4..f0d151788 100644
--- a/src/sentry_core.c
+++ b/src/sentry_core.c
@@ -209,6 +209,13 @@ sentry_init(sentry_options_t *options)
 
     uint64_t last_crash = 0;
 
+#if defined(SENTRY_PLATFORM_WINDOWS)                                           \
+    && (!defined(SENTRY_BUILD_SHARED) || defined(SENTRY_PLATFORM_XBOX))
+    // This function must be positioned so that any dependents on its cached
+    // functions are invoked after it.
+    sentry__init_cached_kernel32_functions();
+#endif
+
     // and then we will start the backend, since it requires a valid run
     sentry_backend_t *backend = options->backend;
     if (backend && backend->startup_func) {
@@ -253,13 +260,6 @@ sentry_init(sentry_options_t *options)
         backend->user_consent_changed_func(backend);
     }
 
-#if defined(SENTRY_PLATFORM_WINDOWS)                                           \
-    && (!defined(SENTRY_BUILD_SHARED) || defined(SENTRY_PLATFORM_XBOX))
-    // This function must be positioned so that any dependents on its cached
-    // functions are invoked after it.
-    sentry__init_cached_kernel32_functions();
-#endif
-
     // after initializing the transport, we will submit all the unsent envelopes
     // and handle remaining sessions.
     SENTRY_DEBUG("processing and pruning old runs");