diff --git a/bin/fail2ban-client b/bin/fail2ban-client
index 866a5287..b91c339c 100755
--- a/bin/fail2ban-client
+++ b/bin/fail2ban-client
@@ -430,6 +430,9 @@ class ServerExecutionException(Exception):
 	pass
 
 if __name__ == "__main__": # pragma: no cover - can't test main
+	from time import strptime
+	# strptime thread safety hack-around - http://bugs.python.org/issue7980
+	strptime("2012", "%Y")
 	client = Fail2banClient()
 	# Exit with correct return value
 	if client.start(sys.argv):
diff --git a/bin/fail2ban-regex b/bin/fail2ban-regex
index 5644dd37..96aca926 100755
--- a/bin/fail2ban-regex
+++ b/bin/fail2ban-regex
@@ -474,6 +474,9 @@ class Fail2banRegex(object):
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
+	from time import strptime
+	# strptime thread safety hack-around - http://bugs.python.org/issue7980
+	strptime("2012", "%Y")
 
 	parser = get_opt_parser()
 	(opts, args) = parser.parse_args()
diff --git a/bin/fail2ban-server b/bin/fail2ban-server
index ec0c0dbe..dc8d81b4 100755
--- a/bin/fail2ban-server
+++ b/bin/fail2ban-server
@@ -131,6 +131,9 @@ class Fail2banServer:
 			return False
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
+	from time import strptime
+	# strptime thread safety hack-around - http://bugs.python.org/issue7980
+	strptime("2012", "%Y")
 	server = Fail2banServer()
 	if server.start(sys.argv):
 		sys.exit(0)