diff --git a/clutter/clutter-main.c b/clutter/clutter-main.c
index 04834d36f..444ceba69 100644
--- a/clutter/clutter-main.c
+++ b/clutter/clutter-main.c
@@ -901,14 +901,6 @@ void
 clutter_main (void)
 {
   GMainLoop *loop;
-  CLUTTER_STATIC_TIMER (mainloop_timer,
-                        NULL, /* no parent */
-                        "Mainloop",
-                        "The time spent in the clutter mainloop",
-                        0 /* no application private data */);
-
-  if (clutter_main_loop_level == 0)
-    CLUTTER_TIMER_START (uprof_get_mainloop_context (), mainloop_timer);
 
   if (!_clutter_context_is_initialized ())
     {
@@ -942,9 +934,6 @@ clutter_main (void)
   g_main_loop_unref (loop);
 
   clutter_main_loop_level--;
-
-  if (clutter_main_loop_level == 0)
-    CLUTTER_TIMER_STOP (uprof_get_mainloop_context (), mainloop_timer);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -1493,6 +1482,14 @@ clutter_init_real (GError **error)
   ClutterMainContext *ctx;
   ClutterBackend *backend;
 
+#ifdef CLUTTER_ENABLE_PROFILE
+  CLUTTER_STATIC_TIMER (mainloop_timer,
+                        NULL, /* no parent */
+                        "Mainloop",
+                        "The time spent in the clutter mainloop",
+                        0 /* no application private data */);
+#endif
+
   /* Note, creates backend if not already existing, though parse args will
    * have likely created it
    */
@@ -1554,6 +1551,8 @@ clutter_init_real (GError **error)
   uprof_init (NULL, NULL);
   _clutter_uprof_init ();
 
+  CLUTTER_TIMER_START (uprof_get_mainloop_context (), mainloop_timer);
+
   if (clutter_profile_flags & CLUTTER_PROFILE_PICKING_ONLY)
     _clutter_profile_suspend ();
 #endif