diff --git a/rootdir/etc/init.goldfish.rc b/rootdir/etc/init.goldfish.rc
index 1ac09ca..83b7f8a 100644
--- a/rootdir/etc/init.goldfish.rc
+++ b/rootdir/etc/init.goldfish.rc
@@ -52,6 +52,18 @@
     group root
     oneshot
 
+# The qemu-props program is used to set various system
+# properties on boot. It must be run early during the boot
+# process to avoid race conditions with other daemons that
+# might read them (e.g. surface flinger), so define it in
+# class 'core'
+#
+service qemu-props /system/bin/qemu-props
+    class core
+    user root
+    group root
+    oneshot
+
 service qemud /system/bin/qemud
     socket qemud    stream 666
     oneshot
diff --git a/rootdir/etc/init.goldfish.sh b/rootdir/etc/init.goldfish.sh
index 1156dd7..ece75b4 100755
--- a/rootdir/etc/init.goldfish.sh
+++ b/rootdir/etc/init.goldfish.sh
@@ -57,10 +57,6 @@
     ;;
 esac
 
-# call 'qemu-props' to set system properties from the emulator.
-#
-/system/bin/qemu-props
-
 # set up the second interface (for inter-emulator connections)
 # if required
 my_ip=`getprop net.shared_net_ip`