diff --git a/virtualizationservice/src/aidl.rs b/virtualizationservice/src/aidl.rs
index dc22e99..bc1761b 100644
--- a/virtualizationservice/src/aidl.rs
+++ b/virtualizationservice/src/aidl.rs
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 use crate::composite::make_composite_image;
 use crate::crosvm::{CrosvmConfig, DiskFile, VmInstance};
-use crate::payload::{make_payload_disk, ApexInfoList};
+use crate::payload::make_payload_disk;
 use crate::{Cid, FIRST_GUEST_CID};
 
 use android_system_virtualizationservice::aidl::android::system::virtualizationservice::IVirtualizationService::IVirtualizationService;
@@ -62,19 +62,9 @@
     ["com.android.adbd", "com.android.i18n", "com.android.os.statsd", "com.android.sdkext"];
 
 /// Implementation of `IVirtualizationService`, the entry point of the AIDL service.
-#[derive(Debug)]
+#[derive(Debug, Default)]
 pub struct VirtualizationService {
     state: Mutex<State>,
-    apex_info_list: ApexInfoList,
-}
-
-impl VirtualizationService {
-    pub fn new() -> Result<VirtualizationService> {
-        Ok(VirtualizationService {
-            state: Default::default(),
-            apex_info_list: ApexInfoList::load()?,
-        })
-    }
 }
 
 impl Interface for VirtualizationService {}
@@ -119,15 +109,13 @@
 
         let config = match config {
             VirtualMachineConfig::AppConfig(config) => BorrowedOrOwned::Owned(
-                load_app_config(&self.apex_info_list, config, &temporary_directory).map_err(
-                    |e| {
-                        error!("Failed to load app config from {}: {}", &config.configPath, e);
-                        new_binder_exception(
-                            ExceptionCode::SERVICE_SPECIFIC,
-                            format!("Failed to load app config from {}: {}", &config.configPath, e),
-                        )
-                    },
-                )?,
+                load_app_config(config, &temporary_directory).map_err(|e| {
+                    error!("Failed to load app config from {}: {}", &config.configPath, e);
+                    new_binder_exception(
+                        ExceptionCode::SERVICE_SPECIFIC,
+                        format!("Failed to load app config from {}: {}", &config.configPath, e),
+                    )
+                })?,
             ),
             VirtualMachineConfig::RawConfig(config) => BorrowedOrOwned::Borrowed(config),
         };
@@ -298,7 +286,6 @@
 }
 
 fn load_app_config(
-    apex_info_list: &ApexInfoList,
     config: &VirtualMachineAppConfig,
     temporary_directory: &Path,
 ) -> Result<VirtualMachineRawConfig> {
@@ -328,7 +315,6 @@
         apexes.dedup_by(|a, b| a.name == b.name);
 
         vm_config.disks.push(make_payload_disk(
-            apex_info_list,
             format!("/proc/self/fd/{}", apk_file.as_raw_fd()).into(),
             format!("/proc/self/fd/{}", idsig_file.as_raw_fd()).into(),
             config_path,
diff --git a/virtualizationservice/src/main.rs b/virtualizationservice/src/main.rs
index 3f2e99c..658203b 100644
--- a/virtualizationservice/src/main.rs
+++ b/virtualizationservice/src/main.rs
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
         android_logger::Config::default().with_tag(LOG_TAG).with_min_level(Level::Trace),
     );
 
-    let service = VirtualizationService::new().unwrap();
+    let service = VirtualizationService::default();
     let service = BnVirtualizationService::new_binder(
         service,
         BinderFeatures { set_requesting_sid: true, ..BinderFeatures::default() },
diff --git a/virtualizationservice/src/payload.rs b/virtualizationservice/src/payload.rs
index d3dc289..18e7de5 100644
--- a/virtualizationservice/src/payload.rs
+++ b/virtualizationservice/src/payload.rs
@@ -16,9 +16,10 @@
 
 use crate::composite::align_to_partition_size;
 
-use anyhow::{anyhow, Result};
+use anyhow::{anyhow, bail, Result};
 use microdroid_metadata::{ApexPayload, ApkPayload, Metadata};
 use microdroid_payload_config::ApexConfig;
+use once_cell::sync::OnceCell;
 use regex::Regex;
 use std::fs;
 use std::fs::OpenOptions;
@@ -29,7 +30,7 @@
 
 /// Represents the list of APEXes
 #[derive(Debug)]
-pub struct ApexInfoList {
+struct ApexInfoList {
     list: Vec<ApexInfo>,
 }
 
@@ -41,30 +42,38 @@
 
 impl ApexInfoList {
     /// Loads ApexInfoList
-    pub fn load() -> Result<ApexInfoList> {
-        // TODO(b/191601801): look up /apex/apex-info-list.xml instead of apexservice
-        // Each APEX prints the line:
-        //   Module: <...> Version: <...> VersionName: <...> Path: <...> IsActive: <...> IsFactory: <...>
-        // We only care about "Module:" and "Path:" tagged values for now.
-        let info_pattern = Regex::new(r"^Module: (?P<name>[^ ]*) .* Path: (?P<path>[^ ]*) .*$")?;
-        let output = Command::new("cmd")
-            .arg("-w")
-            .arg("apexservice")
-            .arg("getActivePackages")
-            .output()
-            .expect("failed to execute apexservice cmd");
-        let list = BufReader::new(output.stdout.as_slice())
-            .lines()
-            .map(|line| -> Result<ApexInfo> {
-                let line = line?;
-                let captures =
-                    info_pattern.captures(&line).ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("can't parse: {}", line))?;
-                let name = captures.name("name").unwrap();
-                let path = captures.name("path").unwrap();
-                Ok(ApexInfo { name: name.as_str().to_owned(), path: path.as_str().into() })
-            })
-            .collect::<Result<Vec<ApexInfo>>>()?;
-        Ok(ApexInfoList { list })
+    fn load() -> Result<&'static ApexInfoList> {
+        static INSTANCE: OnceCell<ApexInfoList> = OnceCell::new();
+        INSTANCE.get_or_try_init(|| {
+            // TODO(b/191601801): look up /apex/apex-info-list.xml instead of apexservice
+            // Each APEX prints the line:
+            //   Module: <...> Version: <...> VersionName: <...> Path: <...> IsActive: <...> IsFactory: <...>
+            // We only care about "Module:" and "Path:" tagged values for now.
+            let info_pattern =
+                Regex::new(r"^Module: (?P<name>[^ ]*) .* Path: (?P<path>[^ ]*) .*$")?;
+            let output = Command::new("cmd")
+                .arg("-w")
+                .arg("apexservice")
+                .arg("getActivePackages")
+                .output()
+                .expect("failed to execute apexservice cmd");
+            let list = BufReader::new(output.stdout.as_slice())
+                .lines()
+                .map(|line| -> Result<ApexInfo> {
+                    let line = line?;
+                    let captures = info_pattern
+                        .captures(&line)
+                        .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("can't parse: {}", line))?;
+                    let name = captures.name("name").unwrap();
+                    let path = captures.name("path").unwrap();
+                    Ok(ApexInfo { name: name.as_str().to_owned(), path: path.as_str().into() })
+                })
+                .collect::<Result<Vec<ApexInfo>>>()?;
+            if list.is_empty() {
+                bail!("failed to load apex info: empty");
+            }
+            Ok(ApexInfoList { list })
+        })
     }
 
     fn get_path_for(&self, apex_name: &str) -> Result<PathBuf> {
@@ -120,7 +129,6 @@
 ///   microdroid-apk: [apk, zero filler]
 ///   microdroid-apk-idsig: idsig
 pub fn make_payload_disk(
-    apex_info_list: &ApexInfoList,
     apk_file: PathBuf,
     idsig_file: PathBuf,
     config_path: &str,
@@ -155,6 +163,7 @@
         writable: false,
     }];
 
+    let apex_info_list = ApexInfoList::load()?;
     let mut filler_count = 0;
     for (i, apex) in apexes.iter().enumerate() {
         partitions.push(make_partition(