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/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" />