diff --git a/runtime/runtime.c b/runtime/runtime.c
index 864966a1e..86e9cc2df 100644
--- a/runtime/runtime.c
+++ b/runtime/runtime.c
@@ -1263,6 +1263,7 @@ extern void set_args (int argc, char *argv[]) {
   __post_gc ();
 
   global_sysargs = p;
+  push_extra_root (&global_sysargs);
 }
 
 /* GC starts here */