diff --git a/test/porousmediumflow/solidenergy/main.cc b/test/porousmediumflow/solidenergy/main.cc
index f809e8e70aa83228b67a506cee01386eba2b1d9c..c76522c00c7db9f584fe037790051ba186232f72 100644
--- a/test/porousmediumflow/solidenergy/main.cc
+++ b/test/porousmediumflow/solidenergy/main.cc
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include <dune/common/parallel/mpihelper.hh>
 #include <dune/common/timer.hh>
 
+#include <dumux/common/initialize.hh>
 #include <dumux/common/properties.hh>
 #include <dumux/common/parameters.hh>
 #include <dumux/common/dumuxmessage.hh>
@@ -51,8 +52,9 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
     // define the type tag for this problem
     using TypeTag = Properties::TTag::SolidEnergyTest;
 
-    // initialize MPI, finalize is done automatically on exit
-    const auto& mpiHelper = Dune::MPIHelper::instance(argc, argv);
+    // maybe initialize MPI and/or multithreading backend
+    Dumux::initialize(argc, argv);
+    const auto& mpiHelper = Dune::MPIHelper::instance();
 
     // print dumux start message
     if (mpiHelper.rank() == 0)