diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ec31d4c5c4..c43caaf8da 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@
 - Report enabled Qt and WER integrations in event SDK metadata (`sdk.integrations`) alongside the configured crash backend. ([#1969](https://github.com/
   getsentry/sentry-native/pull/1969))
 
+**Fixes**:
+
+- Native/Linux: improve startup time by avoiding zeroing a large shmem module array during crash context initialization. ([#1966](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-native/pull/1966))
+
 ## 0.16.2
 
 **Features**:
diff --git a/src/backends/native/sentry_crash_context.h b/src/backends/native/sentry_crash_context.h
index be172a97b5..20681b812b 100644
--- a/src/backends/native/sentry_crash_context.h
+++ b/src/backends/native/sentry_crash_context.h
@@ -9,9 +9,12 @@
 
 #include "sentry.h" // For sentry_minidump_mode_t
 #include "sentry_boot.h"
+#include "sentry_sync.h"
 
 #include <limits.h>
+#include <stddef.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
+#include <string.h>
 
 #if defined(SENTRY_PLATFORM_UNIX)
 #    include <signal.h>
@@ -326,12 +329,35 @@ typedef struct {
     // Minidump output path (filled by daemon)
     char minidump_path[SENTRY_CRASH_MAX_PATH];
 
+    uint32_t module_count; // Guards modules[] (uninitialized)
+
+    // === UNINITIALIZED MEMORY BEGIN ===
+
     // Module information (captured in signal handler from dyld)
-    uint32_t module_count;
     sentry_module_info_t modules[SENTRY_CRASH_MAX_MODULES];
 
+    // NOTE: Any new members added here remain uninitialized by
+    // sentry__crash_context_init().
+
 } sentry_crash_context_t;
 
+static inline void
+sentry__crash_context_init(sentry_crash_context_t *ctx)
+{
+    if (!ctx) {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    // Zero until the large modules[] array, and leave the rest uninitialized:
+    // https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-native/issues/1852
+    memset(ctx, 0, offsetof(sentry_crash_context_t, modules));
+
+    ctx->magic = SENTRY_CRASH_MAGIC;
+    ctx->version = SENTRY_CRASH_VERSION;
+    sentry__atomic_store(&ctx->state, SENTRY_CRASH_STATE_READY);
+    sentry__atomic_store(&ctx->sequence, 0);
+}
+
 // Shared memory size: calculated at compile-time based on actual struct size
 // Add 8KB padding for safety and future additions
 #define SENTRY_CRASH_SHM_SIZE (sizeof(sentry_crash_context_t) + (8 * 1024))
diff --git a/src/backends/native/sentry_crash_ipc.c b/src/backends/native/sentry_crash_ipc.c
index c929a07d5c..deafe3ca51 100644
--- a/src/backends/native/sentry_crash_ipc.c
+++ b/src/backends/native/sentry_crash_ipc.c
@@ -152,11 +152,7 @@ sentry__crash_ipc_init_app(sem_t *init_sem)
 
     // Initialize shared memory only if newly created
     if (!shm_exists) {
-        memset(ipc->shmem, 0, SENTRY_CRASH_SHM_SIZE);
-        ipc->shmem->magic = SENTRY_CRASH_MAGIC;
-        ipc->shmem->version = SENTRY_CRASH_VERSION;
-        sentry__atomic_store(&ipc->shmem->state, SENTRY_CRASH_STATE_READY);
-        sentry__atomic_store(&ipc->shmem->sequence, 0);
+        sentry__crash_context_init(ipc->shmem);
     }
 
     // Release semaphore after initialization
@@ -450,11 +446,7 @@ sentry__crash_ipc_init_app(sentry_mutex_t *init_mutex)
     }
 
     if (!shm_exists) {
-        memset(ipc->shmem, 0, SENTRY_CRASH_SHM_SIZE);
-        ipc->shmem->magic = SENTRY_CRASH_MAGIC;
-        ipc->shmem->version = SENTRY_CRASH_VERSION;
-        sentry__atomic_store(&ipc->shmem->state, SENTRY_CRASH_STATE_READY);
-        sentry__atomic_store(&ipc->shmem->sequence, 0);
+        sentry__crash_context_init(ipc->shmem);
     }
 
     if (ipc->init_mutex) {
@@ -707,11 +699,7 @@ sentry__crash_ipc_init_app(HANDLE init_mutex)
 
     // Initialize shared memory only if newly created
     if (!shm_exists) {
-        memset(ipc->shmem, 0, SENTRY_CRASH_SHM_SIZE);
-        ipc->shmem->magic = SENTRY_CRASH_MAGIC;
-        ipc->shmem->version = SENTRY_CRASH_VERSION;
-        sentry__atomic_store(&ipc->shmem->state, SENTRY_CRASH_STATE_READY);
-        sentry__atomic_store(&ipc->shmem->sequence, 0);
+        sentry__crash_context_init(ipc->shmem);
     }
 
     // Release mutex after initialization
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_native_backend.c b/tests/unit/test_native_backend.c
index 8125f23206..0bf86275aa 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_native_backend.c
+++ b/tests/unit/test_native_backend.c
@@ -387,6 +387,32 @@ SENTRY_TEST(crash_context_transport_fields)
 #endif
 }
 
+SENTRY_TEST(crash_context_init)
+{
+#ifdef SENTRY_BACKEND_NATIVE
+    sentry_crash_context_t *ctx = sentry_malloc(sizeof(*ctx));
+    TEST_ASSERT(!!ctx);
+    memset(ctx, 0xA5, sizeof(*ctx));
+
+    sentry__crash_context_init(ctx);
+
+    TEST_CHECK_INT_EQUAL(ctx->magic, SENTRY_CRASH_MAGIC);
+    TEST_CHECK_INT_EQUAL(ctx->version, SENTRY_CRASH_VERSION);
+    TEST_CHECK_INT_EQUAL(ctx->state, SENTRY_CRASH_STATE_READY);
+    TEST_CHECK_INT_EQUAL(ctx->sequence, 0);
+    TEST_CHECK_INT_EQUAL(ctx->module_count, 0);
+
+    TEST_CHECK(
+        ((unsigned char *)ctx)[offsetof(sentry_crash_context_t, modules) - 1]
+        == 0);
+    TEST_CHECK(((unsigned char *)&ctx->modules[0])[0] == 0xA5);
+
+    sentry_free(ctx);
+#else
+    SKIP_TEST();
+#endif
+}
+
 /**
  * Test that options transport configuration is propagated to crash context
  * during native backend startup. This verifies the fix for the daemon
diff --git a/tests/unit/tests.inc b/tests/unit/tests.inc
index dbc372ead4..dbc00cae5c 100644
--- a/tests/unit/tests.inc
+++ b/tests/unit/tests.inc
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ XX(cond_wake_all)
 XX(continuation_no_baggage_uses_sdk_dsc)
 XX(count_sampled_events)
 XX(crash_context_handler_path_propagation)
+XX(crash_context_init)
 XX(crash_context_null_options)
 XX(crash_context_options_propagation)
 XX(crash_context_transport_fields)