diff --git a/ethereum/contracts/Implementation.sol b/ethereum/contracts/Implementation.sol
index d61293ad..474cc2d6 100644
--- a/ethereum/contracts/Implementation.sol
+++ b/ethereum/contracts/Implementation.sol
@@ -30,23 +30,6 @@ contract Implementation is Governance {
         setNextSequence(emitter, sequence + 1);
     }
 
-    function initialize(address[] memory initialGuardians, uint16 chainId, uint16 governanceChainId, bytes32 governanceContract) initializer public {
-        require(initialGuardians.length > 0, "no guardians specified");
-
-        Structs.GuardianSet memory initialGuardianSet = Structs.GuardianSet({
-            keys : initialGuardians,
-            expirationTime : 0
-        });
-
-        storeGuardianSet(initialGuardianSet, 0);
-        // initial guardian set index is 0, which is the default value of the storage slot anyways
-
-        setChainId(chainId);
-
-        setGovernanceChainId(governanceChainId);
-        setGovernanceContract(governanceContract);
-    }
-
     modifier initializer() {
         address implementation = ERC1967Upgrade._getImplementation();
 
diff --git a/ethereum/contracts/Setup.sol b/ethereum/contracts/Setup.sol
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..989ffd6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ethereum/contracts/Setup.sol
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+// contracts/Implementation.sol
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache 2
+
+pragma solidity ^0.8.0;
+pragma experimental ABIEncoderV2;
+
+import "./Governance.sol";
+
+import "@openzeppelin/contracts/proxy/ERC1967/ERC1967Upgrade.sol";
+
+contract Setup is Setters, ERC1967Upgrade {
+    function setup(
+        address implementation,
+        address[] memory initialGuardians,
+        uint16 chainId,
+        uint16 governanceChainId,
+        bytes32 governanceContract
+    ) public {
+        require(initialGuardians.length > 0, "no guardians specified");
+
+        Structs.GuardianSet memory initialGuardianSet = Structs.GuardianSet({
+            keys : initialGuardians,
+            expirationTime : 0
+        });
+
+        storeGuardianSet(initialGuardianSet, 0);
+        // initial guardian set index is 0, which is the default value of the storage slot anyways
+
+        setChainId(chainId);
+
+        setGovernanceChainId(governanceChainId);
+        setGovernanceContract(governanceContract);
+
+        _upgradeTo(implementation);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/ethereum/contracts/Wormhole.sol b/ethereum/contracts/Wormhole.sol
index da749745..a0917894 100644
--- a/ethereum/contracts/Wormhole.sol
+++ b/ethereum/contracts/Wormhole.sol
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ pragma solidity ^0.8.0;
 import "@openzeppelin/contracts/proxy/ERC1967/ERC1967Proxy.sol";
 
 contract Wormhole is ERC1967Proxy {
-    constructor (address implementation, bytes memory initData) ERC1967Proxy(
-        implementation,
+    constructor (address setup, bytes memory initData) ERC1967Proxy(
+        setup,
         initData
     ) { }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/ethereum/migrations/2_deploy_wormhole.js b/ethereum/migrations/2_deploy_wormhole.js
index 8eb981b6..fbc6dbef 100644
--- a/ethereum/migrations/2_deploy_wormhole.js
+++ b/ethereum/migrations/2_deploy_wormhole.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 require('dotenv').config({ path: "../.env" });
 
+const Setup = artifacts.require("Setup");
 const Implementation = artifacts.require("Implementation");
 const Wormhole = artifacts.require("Wormhole");
 
@@ -10,20 +11,22 @@ const governanceChainId = process.env.INIT_GOV_CHAIN_ID;
 const governanceContract = process.env.INIT_GOV_CONTRACT; // bytes32
 
 module.exports = async function (deployer) {
+    // deploy setup
+    await deployer.deploy(Setup);
+
     // deploy implementation
     await deployer.deploy(Implementation);
 
     // encode initialisation data
-    const impl = new web3.eth.Contract(Implementation.abi, Implementation.address);
-    const initData = impl.methods.initialize(
+    const setup = new web3.eth.Contract(Setup.abi, Setup.address);
+    const initData = setup.methods.setup(
+        Implementation.address,
         initialSigners,
         chainId,
         governanceChainId,
         governanceContract
     ).encodeABI();
 
-    // console.log(initData)
-
     // deploy proxy
-    await deployer.deploy(Wormhole, Implementation.address, initData);
+    await deployer.deploy(Wormhole, Setup.address, initData);
 };
diff --git a/ethereum/test/wormhole.js b/ethereum/test/wormhole.js
index ce6f59c1..a2a45b79 100644
--- a/ethereum/test/wormhole.js
+++ b/ethereum/test/wormhole.js
@@ -85,21 +85,6 @@ contract("Wormhole", function () {
         assert.equal(governanceContract, testGovernanceContract);
     })
 
-    it("initialize should be non-reentrant", async function () {
-        const initialized = new web3.eth.Contract(ImplementationFullABI, Wormhole.address);
-
-        try {
-            await initialized.methods.initialize([
-                testSigner1.address
-            ], testChainId, testGovernanceChainId, testGovernanceContract).estimateGas();
-        } catch (error) {
-            assert.equal(error.message, "Returned error: VM Exception while processing transaction: revert already initialized")
-            return
-        }
-
-        assert.fail("did not fail")
-    })
-
     it("should log a published message correctly", async function () {
         const initialized = new web3.eth.Contract(ImplementationFullABI, Wormhole.address);
         const accounts = await web3.eth.getAccounts();