diff --git a/src/cmd/cgo/internal/testshared/testdata/dep2/dep2.go b/src/cmd/cgo/internal/testshared/testdata/dep2/dep2.go
index 94f38cf507..18d774b5fc 100644
--- a/src/cmd/cgo/internal/testshared/testdata/dep2/dep2.go
+++ b/src/cmd/cgo/internal/testshared/testdata/dep2/dep2.go
@@ -2,6 +2,12 @@ package dep2
 
 import "testshared/depBase"
 
+func init() {
+	if !depBase.Initialized {
+		panic("depBase not initialized")
+	}
+}
+
 var W int = 1
 
 var hasProg depBase.HasProg
diff --git a/src/cmd/cgo/internal/testshared/testdata/depBase/dep.go b/src/cmd/cgo/internal/testshared/testdata/depBase/dep.go
index e7cc7c81eb..a143fe2ff1 100644
--- a/src/cmd/cgo/internal/testshared/testdata/depBase/dep.go
+++ b/src/cmd/cgo/internal/testshared/testdata/depBase/dep.go
@@ -7,8 +7,24 @@ package depBase
 import (
 	"os"
 	"reflect"
+
+	"testshared/depBaseInternal"
 )
 
+// Issue 61973: indirect dependencies are not initialized.
+func init() {
+	if !depBaseInternal.Initialized {
+		panic("depBaseInternal not initialized")
+	}
+	if os.Stdout == nil {
+		panic("os.Stdout is nil")
+	}
+
+	Initialized = true
+}
+
+var Initialized bool
+
 var SlicePtr interface{} = &[]int{}
 
 var V int = 1
diff --git a/src/cmd/cgo/internal/testshared/testdata/depBaseInternal/dep.go b/src/cmd/cgo/internal/testshared/testdata/depBaseInternal/dep.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..906bff09c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cmd/cgo/internal/testshared/testdata/depBaseInternal/dep.go
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+// Copyright 2023 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+// depBaseInternal is only imported by depBase.
+
+package depBaseInternal
+
+var Initialized bool
+
+func init() {
+	Initialized = true
+}
diff --git a/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/deadcode.go b/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/deadcode.go
index a051e43401..70b4a7ca30 100644
--- a/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/deadcode.go
+++ b/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/deadcode.go
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ func (d *deadcodePass) init() {
 			s := loader.Sym(i)
 			d.mark(s, 0)
 		}
+		d.mark(d.ctxt.mainInittasks, 0)
 		return
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/inittask.go b/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/inittask.go
index 0699107cd0..c4c5beb55e 100644
--- a/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/inittask.go
+++ b/src/cmd/link/internal/ld/inittask.go
@@ -41,15 +41,21 @@ func (ctxt *Link) inittasks() {
 	switch ctxt.BuildMode {
 	case BuildModeExe, BuildModePIE, BuildModeCArchive, BuildModeCShared:
 		// Normally the inittask list will be run on program startup.
-		ctxt.mainInittasks = ctxt.inittaskSym("main..inittask", "go:main.inittasks")
+		ctxt.mainInittasks = ctxt.inittaskSym([]string{"main..inittask"}, "go:main.inittasks")
 	case BuildModePlugin:
 		// For plugins, the list will be run on plugin load.
-		ctxt.mainInittasks = ctxt.inittaskSym(fmt.Sprintf("%s..inittask", objabi.PathToPrefix(*flagPluginPath)), "go:plugin.inittasks")
+		ctxt.mainInittasks = ctxt.inittaskSym([]string{fmt.Sprintf("%s..inittask", objabi.PathToPrefix(*flagPluginPath))}, "go:plugin.inittasks")
 		// Make symbol local so multiple plugins don't clobber each other's inittask list.
 		ctxt.loader.SetAttrLocal(ctxt.mainInittasks, true)
 	case BuildModeShared:
-		// Nothing to do. The inittask list will be built by
-		// the final build (with the -linkshared option).
+		// For a shared library, all packages are roots.
+		var roots []string
+		for _, lib := range ctxt.Library {
+			roots = append(roots, fmt.Sprintf("%s..inittask", objabi.PathToPrefix(lib.Pkg)))
+		}
+		ctxt.mainInittasks = ctxt.inittaskSym(roots, "go:shlib.inittasks")
+		// Make symbol local so multiple plugins don't clobber each other's inittask list.
+		ctxt.loader.SetAttrLocal(ctxt.mainInittasks, true)
 	default:
 		Exitf("unhandled build mode %d", ctxt.BuildMode)
 	}
@@ -58,7 +64,7 @@ func (ctxt *Link) inittasks() {
 	// initialize the runtime_inittasks variable.
 	ldr := ctxt.loader
 	if ldr.Lookup("runtime.runtime_inittasks", 0) != 0 {
-		t := ctxt.inittaskSym("runtime..inittask", "go:runtime.inittasks")
+		t := ctxt.inittaskSym([]string{"runtime..inittask"}, "go:runtime.inittasks")
 
 		// This slice header is already defined in runtime/proc.go, so we update it here with new contents.
 		sh := ldr.Lookup("runtime.runtime_inittasks", 0)
@@ -72,11 +78,17 @@ func (ctxt *Link) inittasks() {
 }
 
 // inittaskSym builds a symbol containing pointers to all the inittasks
-// that need to be run, given the root inittask symbol.
-func (ctxt *Link) inittaskSym(rootName, symName string) loader.Sym {
+// that need to be run, given a list of root inittask symbols.
+func (ctxt *Link) inittaskSym(rootNames []string, symName string) loader.Sym {
 	ldr := ctxt.loader
-	root := ldr.Lookup(rootName, 0)
-	if root == 0 {
+	var roots []loader.Sym
+	for _, n := range rootNames {
+		p := ldr.Lookup(n, 0)
+		if p != 0 {
+			roots = append(roots, p)
+		}
+	}
+	if len(roots) == 0 {
 		// Nothing to do
 		return 0
 	}
@@ -98,13 +110,15 @@ func (ctxt *Link) inittaskSym(rootName, symName string) loader.Sym {
 	// p's direct imports that have not yet been scheduled.
 	m := map[loader.Sym]int{}
 
-	// Find all reachable inittask records from the root.
+	// Find all reachable inittask records from the roots.
 	// Keep track of the dependency edges between them in edges.
 	// Keep track of how many imports each package has in m.
 	// q is the list of found but not yet explored packages.
 	var q []loader.Sym
-	m[root] = 0
-	q = append(q, root)
+	for _, p := range roots {
+		m[p] = 0
+		q = append(q, p)
+	}
 	for len(q) > 0 {
 		x := q[len(q)-1]
 		q = q[:len(q)-1]
diff --git a/src/runtime/proc.go b/src/runtime/proc.go
index 263945dd6c..fa76d3250c 100644
--- a/src/runtime/proc.go
+++ b/src/runtime/proc.go
@@ -244,8 +244,10 @@ func main() {
 	// list can arrive a few different ways, but it will always
 	// contain the init tasks computed by the linker for all the
 	// packages in the program (excluding those added at runtime
-	// by package plugin).
-	for _, m := range activeModules() {
+	// by package plugin). Run through the modules in dependency
+	// order (the order they are initialized by the dynamic
+	// loader, i.e. they are added to the moduledata linked list).
+	for m := &firstmoduledata; m != nil; m = m.next {
 		doInit(m.inittasks)
 	}