diff --git a/include/misc.h b/include/misc.h
index 8fc5d513..e805cf68 100644
--- a/include/misc.h
+++ b/include/misc.h
@@ -111,6 +111,8 @@ extern int debug;
 
 extern int oops(char *, char *, int);
 
+void exit_nomem(void) ATTRIBUTE((noreturn));
+
 	/* return codes from command routines */
 #define	RET_OK		0	/* command completed sucessfully */
 #define	RET_FAIL	1	/* command completed unsucessfully [?] */
diff --git a/include/server.h b/include/server.h
index 2f4485e2..69b30cf3 100644
--- a/include/server.h
+++ b/include/server.h
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ void market_update(void *);
 void mobility_check(void *);
 void player_kill_idle(void *);
 void update_main(void *);
-void update_sched(void *);
+void update_init(void);
 void shutdown_sequence(void *);
 void update_force(void *);
 
diff --git a/src/lib/common/log.c b/src/lib/common/log.c
index 048cf107..8ca2f2b3 100644
--- a/src/lib/common/log.c
+++ b/src/lib/common/log.c
@@ -106,7 +106,20 @@ logerror(char *format, ...)
 int
 oops(char *msg, char *file, int line)
 {
-  logerror("Oops: %s in %s:%d", msg ? msg : "bug", file, line);
-  if (debug) abort();
-  return 1;
+    logerror("Oops: %s in %s:%d", msg ? msg : "bug", file, line);
+    if (debug) abort();
+    return 1;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Report out-of-memory condition and terminate the program.
+ * Use this with restraint!  Clean error recovery is preferable, but
+ * not always feasible (e.g. halfway through the update) or worthwhile
+ * (during server startup).
+ */
+void
+exit_nomem(void)
+{
+    logerror("Memory exhausted");
+    exit(1);
 }
diff --git a/src/server/main.c b/src/server/main.c
index 86ddb425..43162e7c 100644
--- a/src/server/main.c
+++ b/src/server/main.c
@@ -325,8 +325,6 @@ start_server(int flags)
 		 "AcceptPlayers", "Accept network connections", 0);
     empth_create(PP_KILLIDLE, player_kill_idle, (50 * 1024), flags,
 		 "KillIdle", "Kills idle player connections", 0);
-    empth_create(PP_SCHED, update_sched, (50 * 1024), flags, "UpdateSched",
-		 "Schedules updates to occur", 0);
     empth_create(PP_TIMESTAMP, delete_lostitems, (50 * 1024), flags,
 		 "DeleteItems", "Deletes old lost items", 0);
     if (opt_MOB_ACCESS) {
@@ -339,6 +337,8 @@ start_server(int flags)
 	empth_create(PP_TIMESTAMP, market_update, (50 * 1024), flags,
 		     "MarketUpdate", "Updates the market", 0);
     }
+
+    update_init();
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/src/server/update.c b/src/server/update.c
index b6de55c1..f6f46426 100644
--- a/src/server/update.c
+++ b/src/server/update.c
@@ -51,20 +51,34 @@ empth_sem_t *update_sem;
 empth_rwlock_t *update_lock;
 time_t update_time;
 
+static void update_sched(void *);
 static void update_wait(void *unused);
 static int run_hook(char *cmd, char *name);
 
-/*ARGSUSED*/
 void
+update_init(void)
+{
+    update_sem = empth_sem_create("Update", 0);
+    update_lock = empth_rwlock_create("Update");
+    if (!update_sem || !update_lock)
+	exit_nomem();
+
+    if (!empth_create(PP_SCHED, update_wait, 50 * 1024, 0,
+		      "Update", "Updates the world", NULL))
+	exit_nomem();
+
+    if (!empth_create(PP_SCHED, update_sched, 50 * 1024, 0,
+		      "UpdateSched", "Schedules updates to occur", NULL))
+	exit_nomem();
+}
+
+/*ARGSUSED*/
+static void
 update_sched(void *unused)
 {
     int wind;
     time_t now, delta;
 
-    update_sem = empth_sem_create("Update", 0);
-    update_lock = empth_rwlock_create("Update");
-    empth_create(PP_SCHED, update_wait, (50 * 1024), 0, "UpdateWait",
-		 "Waits until players idle", 0);
     if (s_p_etu <= 0) {
 	logerror("bad value for s_p_etu (%d)", s_p_etu);
 	s_p_etu = 2 * 60;