21 Language support library [language.support]

21.10 Other runtime support [support.runtime]

21.10.4 Signal handlers [support.signal]

A call to the function signal synchronizes with any resulting invocation of the signal handler so installed.

A plain lock-free atomic operation is an invocation of a function f from Clause [atomics], such that:

An evaluation is signal-safe unless it includes one of the following:

A signal handler invocation has undefined behavior if it includes an evaluation that is not signal-safe.

The function signal is signal-safe if it is invoked with the first argument equal to the signal number corresponding to the signal that caused the invocation of the handler.

See also: ISO C 7.14.

Such initialization might occur because it is the first odr-use ([basic.def.odr]) of that variable.