diff --git a/tests/xtimer_now64_continuity/main.c b/tests/xtimer_now64_continuity/main.c
index 79f2cdefc44ec7e2360024eff626387a3a09f45b..2b4b117c6b8f2dca2d8229240c77a3569d8c26a2 100644
--- a/tests/xtimer_now64_continuity/main.c
+++ b/tests/xtimer_now64_continuity/main.c
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ int main(void)
     uint64_t diff_min = UINT64_MAX;
     uint64_t diff_max = 0;
     uint64_t diff_sum = 0;
-    xtimer_ticks64_t before = xtimer_now64();
     print_str("[START]\n");
+    xtimer_ticks64_t before = xtimer_now64();
     while(--n) {
         xtimer_ticks64_t now = xtimer_now64();
         xtimer_ticks64_t diff = xtimer_diff64(now, before);