diff --git a/parsec-openssl-provider/Cargo.toml b/parsec-openssl-provider/Cargo.toml
index 2a412583..07137e72 100644
--- a/parsec-openssl-provider/Cargo.toml
+++ b/parsec-openssl-provider/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ categories = ["cryptography", "hardware-support"]
 edition = "2021"
 
 [dependencies]
+lazy_static = "1.4.0"
+log = "0.4"
+parsec-client = { git = "https://github.com/parallaxsecond/parsec-client-rust", tag="0.16.0" }
 parsec-openssl2 = { path = "../parsec-openssl2" }
 openssl-errors = "0.2.0"
-log = "0.4"
diff --git a/parsec-openssl-provider/src/lib.rs b/parsec-openssl-provider/src/lib.rs
index 22c0bb96..6f79f2ef 100644
--- a/parsec-openssl-provider/src/lib.rs
+++ b/parsec-openssl-provider/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright 2023 Contributors to the Parsec project.
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 use std::mem;
+use std::sync::Mutex;
 
 pub use parsec_openssl2::*;
 pub use openssl_errors::*;
@@ -11,9 +12,17 @@ use provider::*;
 mod catch;
 use catch::r#catch;
 
-// The init function populates the dispatch table and returns a NULL pointer
-// to the provider context. This needs to be changed when key management and
-// crypto support is added to the provider.
+use parsec_client::error::Result as ClientResult;
+use parsec_client::BasicClient;
+
+const PROJECT_NAME: &str = env!("CARGO_PKG_NAME");
+
+lazy_static::lazy_static! {
+    static ref PARSEC_PROVIDER_CTX: Mutex<ClientResult<BasicClient>> = Mutex::new(BasicClient::new(Some(PROJECT_NAME.to_string())));
+}
+
+// The init function populates the dispatch table and returns a void pointer
+// to the provider context (which contains the parsec basic client).
 pub unsafe fn parsec_provider_provider_init(
     _handle: *const OSSL_CORE_HANDLE,
     _in_: *const OSSL_DISPATCH,
@@ -49,8 +58,18 @@ pub unsafe fn parsec_provider_provider_init(
     });
 
     *out = DISPATCH_TABLE.as_ptr();
-    *provctx = std::ptr::null_mut();
-
+    {
+        let _ = r#catch(Some(|| Error::PROVIDER_INIT), || {
+            if (*PARSEC_PROVIDER_CTX.lock().unwrap()).is_err() {
+                Err(Openssl2Error::SysReturnedNull {
+                    inner: ErrorStack::get(),
+                })?;
+            }
+            Ok(OPENSSL_SUCCESS)
+        });
+    }
+    let ptr: *const Mutex<ClientResult<BasicClient>> = &*PARSEC_PROVIDER_CTX;
+    *provctx = ptr as VOID_PTR;
     Ok(())
 }
 
@@ -61,6 +80,7 @@ openssl_errors! {
             PROVIDER_GETTABLE_PARAMS("parsec_provider_gettable_params");
             PROVIDER_GET_PARAMS("parsec_provider_get_params");
             PROVIDER_QUERY("parsec_provider_query");
+            PROVIDER_INIT("parsec_provider_init");
         }
 
         reasons {
diff --git a/parsec-openssl2/src/lib.rs b/parsec-openssl2/src/lib.rs
index 090186d5..27f984bf 100644
--- a/parsec-openssl2/src/lib.rs
+++ b/parsec-openssl2/src/lib.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 use openssl2::{openssl_returns_1, openssl_returns_nonnull};
 pub use openssl_sys::*;
 pub use parsec_openssl_sys2::*;
+pub use openssl::error::ErrorStack;
 
 mod types;
 pub use types::*;