diff --git a/src/android.c b/src/android.c
index 016627c..bd48519 100644
--- a/src/android.c
+++ b/src/android.c
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ static void destroy_android(struct SoundIoPrivate *si) {
     if (sia->cond)
         soundio_os_cond_destroy(sia->cond);
 
+    if (sia->engineObject)
+        (*sia->engineObject)->Destroy(sia->engineObject);
 }
 
 static void flush_events_android(struct SoundIoPrivate *si) {
@@ -44,6 +46,21 @@ enum SoundIoError soundio_android_init(struct SoundIoPrivate *si) {
     struct SoundIo *soundio = &si->pub;
     struct SoundIoAndroid *sia = &si->backend_data.android;
 
+    if (slCreateEngine(&sia->engineObject, 0, NULL, 0, NULL, NULL) != SL_RESULT_SUCCESS)
+        return SoundIoErrorInitAudioBackend;
+
+    if ((*sia->engineObject)->Realize(sia->engineObject, SL_BOOLEAN_FALSE) != SL_RESULT_SUCCESS)
+    {
+        destroy_android(si);
+        return SoundIoErrorInitAudioBackend;
+    }
+
+    if ((*sia->engineObject)->GetInterface(sia->engineObject, SL_IID_ENGINE, &sia->engineEngine) != SL_RESULT_SUCCESS)
+    {
+        destroy_android(si);
+        return SoundIoErrorInitAudioBackend;
+    }
+
     sia->cond = soundio_os_cond_create();
     if (!sia->cond) {
         destroy_android(si);
diff --git a/src/android.h b/src/android.h
index a71ef9b..d6a2ffc 100644
--- a/src/android.h
+++ b/src/android.h
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 #ifndef SOUNDIO_ANDROID_H
 #define SOUNDIO_ANDROID_H
 
+#include <SLES/OpenSLES.h>
+
 #include "os.h"
 #include "soundio_internal.h"
 
@@ -17,6 +19,9 @@ enum SoundIoError soundio_android_init(struct SoundIoPrivate *si);
 struct SoundIoAndroid {
     struct SoundIoOsCond *cond;
     bool devices_emitted;
+
+    SLObjectItf engineObject;
+    SLEngineItf engineEngine;
 };
 
 #endif