diff --git a/webapp2.py b/webapp2.py
index e48e7bf..90ffd3c 100755
--- a/webapp2.py
+++ b/webapp2.py
@@ -572,6 +572,8 @@ def __init__(self, request=None, response=None):
             A :class:`Response` instance.
         """
         self.initialize(request, response)
+        super(RequestHandler, self).__init__()
+
 
     def initialize(self, request, response):
         """Initializes this request handler with the given WSGI application,