diff --git a/Source/Core/Common/CMakeLists.txt b/Source/Core/Common/CMakeLists.txt
index 14a1863fcf..4a3623d4e8 100644
--- a/Source/Core/Common/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/Source/Core/Common/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -110,6 +110,8 @@ add_library(common
   SettingsHandler.h
   SFMLHelper.cpp
   SFMLHelper.h
+  SocketContext.cpp
+  SocketContext.h
   SPSCQueue.h
   StringUtil.cpp
   StringUtil.h
diff --git a/Source/Core/Common/SocketContext.cpp b/Source/Core/Common/SocketContext.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e9174bc0d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Source/Core/Common/SocketContext.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+// Copyright 2021 Dolphin Emulator Project
+// Licensed under GPLv2+
+// Refer to the license.txt file included.
+
+#include "Common/SocketContext.h"
+
+namespace Common
+{
+#ifdef _WIN32
+SocketContext::SocketContext()
+{
+  static_cast<void>(WSAStartup(MAKEWORD(2, 2), &m_data));
+}
+SocketContext::~SocketContext()
+{
+  WSACleanup();
+}
+#else
+SocketContext::SocketContext() = default;
+SocketContext::~SocketContext() = default;
+#endif
+}  // namespace Common
diff --git a/Source/Core/Common/SocketContext.h b/Source/Core/Common/SocketContext.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1645201f1f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Source/Core/Common/SocketContext.h
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+// Copyright 2021 Dolphin Emulator Project
+// Licensed under GPLv2+
+// Refer to the license.txt file included.
+
+#pragma once
+
+#ifdef _WIN32
+#include <WinSock2.h>
+#endif
+
+namespace Common
+{
+class SocketContext
+{
+public:
+  SocketContext();
+  ~SocketContext();
+
+  SocketContext(const SocketContext&) = delete;
+  SocketContext(SocketContext&&) = delete;
+
+  SocketContext& operator=(const SocketContext&) = delete;
+  SocketContext& operator=(SocketContext&&) = delete;
+
+private:
+#ifdef _WIN32
+  WSADATA m_data;
+#endif
+};
+}  // namespace Common
diff --git a/Source/Core/Core/IOS/Network/IP/Top.cpp b/Source/Core/Core/IOS/Network/IP/Top.cpp
index 88a91d7a02..c34e938e27 100644
--- a/Source/Core/Core/IOS/Network/IP/Top.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/Core/IOS/Network/IP/Top.cpp
@@ -65,17 +65,6 @@ enum SOResultCode : s32
 NetIPTopDevice::NetIPTopDevice(Kernel& ios, const std::string& device_name)
     : Device(ios, device_name)
 {
-#ifdef _WIN32
-  const int ret = WSAStartup(MAKEWORD(2, 2), &InitData);
-  INFO_LOG_FMT(IOS_NET, "WSAStartup: {}", ret);
-#endif
-}
-
-NetIPTopDevice::~NetIPTopDevice()
-{
-#ifdef _WIN32
-  WSACleanup();
-#endif
 }
 
 void NetIPTopDevice::DoState(PointerWrap& p)
diff --git a/Source/Core/Core/IOS/Network/IP/Top.h b/Source/Core/Core/IOS/Network/IP/Top.h
index d87885d165..3e78ea2b06 100644
--- a/Source/Core/Core/IOS/Network/IP/Top.h
+++ b/Source/Core/Core/IOS/Network/IP/Top.h
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 #include <string>
 
 #include "Common/CommonTypes.h"
+#include "Common/SocketContext.h"
 #include "Core/IOS/Device.h"
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
@@ -65,7 +66,6 @@ class NetIPTopDevice : public Device
 {
 public:
   NetIPTopDevice(Kernel& ios, const std::string& device_name);
-  virtual ~NetIPTopDevice();
 
   void DoState(PointerWrap& p) override;
   std::optional<IPCReply> IOCtl(const IOCtlRequest& request) override;
@@ -99,8 +99,6 @@ private:
   IPCReply HandleGetAddressInfoRequest(const IOCtlVRequest& request);
   IPCReply HandleICMPPingRequest(const IOCtlVRequest& request);
 
-#ifdef _WIN32
-  WSADATA InitData;
-#endif
+  Common::SocketContext m_socket_context;
 };
 }  // namespace IOS::HLE
diff --git a/Source/Core/Core/PowerPC/GDBStub.cpp b/Source/Core/Core/PowerPC/GDBStub.cpp
index 20a0ed5939..8b2293d132 100644
--- a/Source/Core/Core/PowerPC/GDBStub.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/Core/PowerPC/GDBStub.cpp
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 // Originally written by Sven Peter <sven@fail0verflow.com> for anergistic.
 
+#include <optional>
 #include <signal.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@ typedef SSIZE_T ssize_t;
 #endif
 
 #include "Common/Logging/Log.h"
+#include "Common/SocketContext.h"
 #include "Core/HW/CPU.h"
 #include "Core/HW/Memmap.h"
 #include "Core/Host.h"
@@ -31,6 +33,11 @@ typedef SSIZE_T ssize_t;
 #include "Core/PowerPC/PPCCache.h"
 #include "Core/PowerPC/PowerPC.h"
 
+namespace
+{
+std::optional<Common::SocketContext> s_socket_context;
+}  // namespace
+
 #define GDB_BFR_MAX 10000
 #define GDB_MAX_BP 10
 
@@ -791,10 +798,6 @@ void gdb_handle_exception()
   }
 }
 
-#ifdef _WIN32
-WSADATA InitData;
-#endif
-
 // exported functions
 
 static void gdb_init_generic(int domain, const sockaddr* server_addr, socklen_t server_addrlen,
@@ -833,10 +836,7 @@ void gdb_init(u32 port)
 static void gdb_init_generic(int domain, const sockaddr* server_addr, socklen_t server_addrlen,
                              sockaddr* client_addr, socklen_t* client_addrlen)
 {
-#ifdef _WIN32
-  WSAStartup(MAKEWORD(2, 2), &InitData);
-#endif
-
+  s_socket_context.emplace();
   memset(bp_x, 0, sizeof bp_x);
   memset(bp_r, 0, sizeof bp_r);
   memset(bp_w, 0, sizeof bp_w);
@@ -884,9 +884,7 @@ void gdb_deinit()
     sock = -1;
   }
 
-#ifdef _WIN32
-  WSACleanup();
-#endif
+  s_socket_context.reset();
 }
 
 bool gdb_active()
diff --git a/Source/Core/DolphinLib.props b/Source/Core/DolphinLib.props
index ae228c0733..d78534993a 100644
--- a/Source/Core/DolphinLib.props
+++ b/Source/Core/DolphinLib.props
@@ -142,6 +142,7 @@
     <ClInclude Include="Common\Semaphore.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="Common\SettingsHandler.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="Common\SFMLHelper.h" />
+    <ClInclude Include="Common\SocketContext.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="Common\SPSCQueue.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="Common\StringUtil.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="Common\Swap.h" />
@@ -718,6 +719,7 @@
     <ClCompile Include="Common\SDCardUtil.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="Common\SettingsHandler.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="Common\SFMLHelper.cpp" />
+    <ClCompile Include="Common\SocketContext.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="Common\StringUtil.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="Common\SymbolDB.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="Common\Thread.cpp" />