diff --git a/src/signal-handling.c b/src/signal-handling.c
index e941d0fd9548b..43782bf4070f2 100644
--- a/src/signal-handling.c
+++ b/src/signal-handling.c
@@ -29,6 +29,52 @@ static const    uint64_t GIGA = 1000000000ULL;
 JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_profile_stop_timer(void);
 JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_profile_start_timer(void);
 
+///////////////////////
+// Utility functions //
+///////////////////////
+JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_profile_init(size_t maxsize, uint64_t delay_nsec)
+{
+    bt_size_max = maxsize;
+    nsecprof = delay_nsec;
+    if (bt_data_prof != NULL)
+        free((void*)bt_data_prof);
+    bt_data_prof = (jl_bt_element_t*) calloc(maxsize, sizeof(jl_bt_element_t));
+    if (bt_data_prof == NULL && maxsize > 0)
+        return -1;
+    bt_size_cur = 0;
+    return 0;
+}
+
+JL_DLLEXPORT uint8_t *jl_profile_get_data(void)
+{
+    return (uint8_t*) bt_data_prof;
+}
+
+JL_DLLEXPORT size_t jl_profile_len_data(void)
+{
+    return bt_size_cur;
+}
+
+JL_DLLEXPORT size_t jl_profile_maxlen_data(void)
+{
+    return bt_size_max;
+}
+
+JL_DLLEXPORT uint64_t jl_profile_delay_nsec(void)
+{
+    return nsecprof;
+}
+
+JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_profile_clear_data(void)
+{
+    bt_size_cur = 0;
+}
+
+JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_profile_is_running(void)
+{
+    return running;
+}
+
 // Any function that acquires this lock must be either a unmanaged thread
 // or in the GC safe region and must NOT allocate anything through the GC
 // while holding this lock.
@@ -426,52 +472,6 @@ void jl_critical_error(int sig, bt_context_t *context, jl_task_t *ct)
     jl_gc_debug_critical_error();
 }
 
-///////////////////////
-// Utility functions //
-///////////////////////
-JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_profile_init(size_t maxsize, uint64_t delay_nsec)
-{
-    bt_size_max = maxsize;
-    nsecprof = delay_nsec;
-    if (bt_data_prof != NULL)
-        free((void*)bt_data_prof);
-    bt_data_prof = (jl_bt_element_t*) calloc(maxsize, sizeof(jl_bt_element_t));
-    if (bt_data_prof == NULL && maxsize > 0)
-        return -1;
-    bt_size_cur = 0;
-    return 0;
-}
-
-JL_DLLEXPORT uint8_t *jl_profile_get_data(void)
-{
-    return (uint8_t*) bt_data_prof;
-}
-
-JL_DLLEXPORT size_t jl_profile_len_data(void)
-{
-    return bt_size_cur;
-}
-
-JL_DLLEXPORT size_t jl_profile_maxlen_data(void)
-{
-    return bt_size_max;
-}
-
-JL_DLLEXPORT uint64_t jl_profile_delay_nsec(void)
-{
-    return nsecprof;
-}
-
-JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_profile_clear_data(void)
-{
-    bt_size_cur = 0;
-}
-
-JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_profile_is_running(void)
-{
-    return running;
-}
-
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/src/signals-unix.c b/src/signals-unix.c
index 34a77fc6fad6e..dadbd15de0832 100644
--- a/src/signals-unix.c
+++ b/src/signals-unix.c
@@ -698,6 +698,14 @@ void trigger_profile_peek(void)
     jl_safe_printf("\n======================================================================================\n");
     jl_safe_printf("Information request received. A stacktrace will print followed by a %.1f second profile\n", profile_peek_duration);
     jl_safe_printf("======================================================================================\n");
+    if (bt_size_max == 0){
+        // If the buffer hasn't been initialized, initialize with default size
+        // Keep these values synchronized with Profile.default_init()
+        if (jl_profile_init(10000000 * jl_n_threads, 1000000) == -1){
+            jl_safe_printf("ERROR: could not initialize the profile buffer");
+            return;
+        }
+    }
     bt_size_cur = 0; // clear profile buffer
     if (jl_profile_start_timer() < 0)
         jl_safe_printf("ERROR: Could not start profile timer\n");
diff --git a/stdlib/Profile/src/Profile.jl b/stdlib/Profile/src/Profile.jl
index 12a44b9acda9a..f260be3ae4dfe 100644
--- a/stdlib/Profile/src/Profile.jl
+++ b/stdlib/Profile/src/Profile.jl
@@ -23,10 +23,7 @@ appended to an internal buffer of backtraces.
 macro profile(ex)
     return quote
         try
-            status = start_timer()
-            if status < 0
-                error(error_codes[status])
-            end
+            start_timer()
             $(esc(ex))
         finally
             stop_timer()
@@ -98,6 +95,11 @@ using keywords or in the order `(n, delay)`.
 """
 function init(; n::Union{Nothing,Integer} = nothing, delay::Union{Nothing,Real} = nothing, limitwarn::Bool = true)
     n_cur = ccall(:jl_profile_maxlen_data, Csize_t, ())
+    if n_cur == 0 && isnothing(n) && isnothing(delay)
+        # indicates that the buffer hasn't been initialized at all, so set the default
+        default_init()
+        n_cur = ccall(:jl_profile_maxlen_data, Csize_t, ())
+    end
     delay_cur = ccall(:jl_profile_delay_nsec, UInt64, ())/10^9
     if n === nothing && delay === nothing
         nthreads = Sys.iswindows() ? 1 : Threads.nthreads() # windows only profiles the main thread
@@ -126,7 +128,7 @@ function init(n::Integer, delay::Real; limitwarn::Bool = true)
     end
 end
 
-function __init__()
+function default_init()
     # init with default values
     # Use a max size of 10M profile samples, and fire timer every 1ms
     # (that should typically give around 100 seconds of record)
@@ -136,10 +138,25 @@ function __init__()
         n = 1_000_000
         delay = 0.01
     else
+        # Keep these values synchronized with trigger_profile_peek
         n = 10_000_000
         delay = 0.001
     end
     init(n, delay, limitwarn = false)
+end
+
+# Checks whether the profile buffer has been initialized. If not, initializes it with the default size.
+function check_init()
+    buffer_size = @ccall jl_profile_maxlen_data()::Int
+    if buffer_size == 0
+        default_init()
+    end
+end
+
+function __init__()
+    # Note: The profile buffer is no longer initialized during __init__ because Profile is in the sysimage,
+    # thus __init__ is called every startup. The buffer is lazily initialized the first time `@profile` is
+    # used, if not manually initialized before that.
     @static if !Sys.iswindows()
         # triggering a profile via signals is not implemented on windows
         PROFILE_PRINT_COND[] = Base.AsyncCondition()
@@ -567,7 +584,14 @@ Julia, and examine the resulting `*.mem` files.
 clear_malloc_data() = ccall(:jl_clear_malloc_data, Cvoid, ())
 
 # C wrappers
-start_timer() = ccall(:jl_profile_start_timer, Cint, ())
+function start_timer()
+    check_init() # if the profile buffer hasn't been initialized, initialize with default size
+    status = ccall(:jl_profile_start_timer, Cint, ())
+    if status < 0
+        error(error_codes[status])
+    end
+end
+
 
 stop_timer() = ccall(:jl_profile_stop_timer, Cvoid, ())
 
@@ -599,6 +623,9 @@ By default metadata such as threadid and taskid is included. Set `include_meta`
 """
 function fetch(;include_meta = true, limitwarn = true)
     maxlen = maxlen_data()
+    if maxlen == 0
+        error("The profiling data buffer is not initialized. A profile has not been requested this session.")
+    end
     len = len_data()
     if limitwarn && is_buffer_full()
         @warn """The profile data buffer is full; profiling probably terminated
diff --git a/stdlib/Profile/test/runtests.jl b/stdlib/Profile/test/runtests.jl
index edd291f22e4a6..86c391d573e50 100644
--- a/stdlib/Profile/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/stdlib/Profile/test/runtests.jl
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 using Test, Profile, Serialization, Logging
 using Base.StackTraces: StackFrame
 
+@test_throws "The profiling data buffer is not initialized. A profile has not been requested this session." Profile.print()
+
 Profile.clear()
 Profile.init()