diff --git a/wpilibc/athena/src/IterativeRobot.cpp b/wpilibc/athena/src/IterativeRobot.cpp
index 03b6d5c453..3b4e64ffac 100644
--- a/wpilibc/athena/src/IterativeRobot.cpp
+++ b/wpilibc/athena/src/IterativeRobot.cpp
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
 #include "DriverStation.h"
 #include "HAL/HAL.h"
 #include "LiveWindow/LiveWindow.h"
-#include "SmartDashboard/SmartDashboard.h"
 #include "networktables/NetworkTable.h"
 
 using namespace frc;
@@ -27,7 +26,6 @@ void IterativeRobot::StartCompetition() {
 
   LiveWindow* lw = LiveWindow::GetInstance();
   // first and one-time initialization
-  SmartDashboard::init();
   NetworkTable::GetTable("LiveWindow")
       ->GetSubTable("~STATUS~")
       ->PutBoolean("LW Enabled", false);
diff --git a/wpilibc/athena/src/RobotBase.cpp b/wpilibc/athena/src/RobotBase.cpp
index 0551b00e9d..e242d03a18 100644
--- a/wpilibc/athena/src/RobotBase.cpp
+++ b/wpilibc/athena/src/RobotBase.cpp
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #include "HLUsageReporting.h"
 #include "Internal/HardwareHLReporting.h"
 #include "RobotState.h"
+#include "SmartDashboard/SmartDashboard.h"
 #include "Utility.h"
 #include "WPILibVersion.h"
 #include "networktables/NetworkTable.h"
@@ -42,6 +43,8 @@ RobotBase::RobotBase() : m_ds(DriverStation::GetInstance()) {
   NetworkTable::SetNetworkIdentity("Robot");
   NetworkTable::SetPersistentFilename("/home/lvuser/networktables.ini");
 
+  SmartDashboard::init();
+
   std::FILE* file = nullptr;
   file = std::fopen("/tmp/frc_versions/FRC_Lib_Version.ini", "w");
 
diff --git a/wpilibc/athena/src/SampleRobot.cpp b/wpilibc/athena/src/SampleRobot.cpp
index 0e04a4b082..014730e865 100644
--- a/wpilibc/athena/src/SampleRobot.cpp
+++ b/wpilibc/athena/src/SampleRobot.cpp
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 
 #include "DriverStation.h"
 #include "LiveWindow/LiveWindow.h"
-#include "SmartDashboard/SmartDashboard.h"
 #include "Timer.h"
 #include "networktables/NetworkTable.h"
 
@@ -106,7 +105,6 @@ void SampleRobot::StartCompetition() {
   HAL_Report(HALUsageReporting::kResourceType_Framework,
              HALUsageReporting::kFramework_Simple);
 
-  SmartDashboard::init();
   NetworkTable::GetTable("LiveWindow")
       ->GetSubTable("~STATUS~")
       ->PutBoolean("LW Enabled", false);
diff --git a/wpilibc/sim/src/IterativeRobot.cpp b/wpilibc/sim/src/IterativeRobot.cpp
index 006fd10c4f..9a37c0577d 100644
--- a/wpilibc/sim/src/IterativeRobot.cpp
+++ b/wpilibc/sim/src/IterativeRobot.cpp
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 
 #include "DriverStation.h"
 #include "LiveWindow/LiveWindow.h"
-#include "SmartDashboard/SmartDashboard.h"
 #include "networktables/NetworkTable.h"
 
 // not sure what this is used for yet.
@@ -30,7 +29,6 @@ using namespace frc;
 void IterativeRobot::StartCompetition() {
   LiveWindow* lw = LiveWindow::GetInstance();
   // first and one-time initialization
-  SmartDashboard::init();
   NetworkTable::GetTable("LiveWindow")
       ->GetSubTable("~STATUS~")
       ->PutBoolean("LW Enabled", false);
diff --git a/wpilibc/sim/src/RobotBase.cpp b/wpilibc/sim/src/RobotBase.cpp
index 88ad292e52..82a2e65db9 100644
--- a/wpilibc/sim/src/RobotBase.cpp
+++ b/wpilibc/sim/src/RobotBase.cpp
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include "RobotBase.h"
 
 #include "RobotState.h"
+#include "SmartDashboard/SmartDashboard.h"
 #include "Utility.h"
 
 using namespace frc;
@@ -25,6 +26,7 @@ using namespace frc;
  */
 RobotBase::RobotBase() : m_ds(DriverStation::GetInstance()) {
   RobotState::SetImplementation(DriverStation::GetInstance());
+  SmartDashboard::init();
   time_sub = MainNode::Subscribe("~/time", &wpilib::internal::time_callback);
 }
 
diff --git a/wpilibc/sim/src/SampleRobot.cpp b/wpilibc/sim/src/SampleRobot.cpp
index a641ea9a16..7488d24cf3 100644
--- a/wpilibc/sim/src/SampleRobot.cpp
+++ b/wpilibc/sim/src/SampleRobot.cpp
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
 #include <cstdio>
 
 #include "LiveWindow/LiveWindow.h"
-#include "SmartDashboard/SmartDashboard.h"
 #include "Timer.h"
 #include "networktables/NetworkTable.h"
 
@@ -105,7 +104,6 @@ void SampleRobot::RobotMain() { m_robotMainOverridden = false; }
 void SampleRobot::StartCompetition() {
   LiveWindow* lw = LiveWindow::GetInstance();
 
-  SmartDashboard::init();
   NetworkTable::GetTable("LiveWindow")
       ->GetSubTable("~STATUS~")
       ->PutBoolean("LW Enabled", false);