diff --git a/backends/igvm.c b/backends/igvm.c
index 2a31021d44..ebdb4594d1 100644
--- a/backends/igvm.c
+++ b/backends/igvm.c
@@ -786,6 +786,27 @@ int qigvm_process_file(IgvmCfg *cfg, ConfidentialGuestSupport *cgs,
         }
     }
 
+    header_count =
+        igvm_header_count(ctx.file, IGVM_HEADER_SECTION_INITIALIZATION);
+    if (header_count < 0) {
+        error_setg(
+            errp,
+            "Invalid initialization header count in IGVM file. Error code: %X",
+            header_count);
+        goto cleanup_parameters;
+    }
+
+    for (ctx.current_header_index = 0;
+         ctx.current_header_index < (unsigned)header_count;
+         ctx.current_header_index++) {
+        IgvmVariableHeaderType type =
+            igvm_get_header_type(ctx.file, IGVM_HEADER_SECTION_INITIALIZATION,
+                                 ctx.current_header_index);
+        if (qigvm_handler(&ctx, type, errp) < 0) {
+            goto cleanup_parameters;
+        }
+    }
+
     /*
      * Contiguous pages of data with compatible flags are grouped together in
      * order to reduce the number of memory regions we create. Make sure the