Hmm, the final patch is a bit more clean.

--- /tmp/htsmodules.c.orig      2006-08-05 09:13:26.529328409 +0200
+++ /tmp/htsmodules.c   2006-08-05 09:10:26.000000000 +0200
@@ -238,36 +238,17 @@
   return NULL;
 }

+void* ssl_handle = NULL;
+#ifdef _WIN32
+void* ssl_handle_2 = NULL;
+#endif
 void htspe_init() {
   static int initOk = 0;
@@ -293,6 +274,7 @@
         handle = dlopen("libssl.so.0", RTLD_LAZY);
       }
 #endif
+      ssl_handle = handle;
       if (handle) {
         SSL_shutdown = (t_SSL_shutdown) DynamicGet(handle,
(char*)"SSL_shutdown");
         SSL_free = (t_SSL_free) DynamicGet(handle, (char*)"SSL_free");
@@ -312,6 +294,7 @@
         SSL_CTX_ctrl = (t_SSL_CTX_ctrl) DynamicGet(handle,
(char*)"SSL_CTX_ctrl");
 #ifdef _WIN32
         handle = LoadLibraryA((char*)"libeay32");
+        ssl_handle_2 = handle;
 #endif
         ERR_load_crypto_strings = (t_ERR_load_crypto_strings)
DynamicGet(handle, (char*)"ERR_load_crypto_strings");
         ERR_error_string = (t_ERR_error_string) DynamicGet(handle,
(char*)"ERR_error_string");
@@ -332,11 +315,21 @@
       V6_is_available ? "" : "-noV6",
       gz_is_available ? "" : "-nozip",
       SSL_is_available ? "" : "-nossl");
-
-
   }
 }

+void htspe_uninit() {
+#ifdef _WIN32
+  CloseHandle(ssl_handle);
+  CloseHandle(ssl_handle_2);
+  ssl_handle = NULL;
+  ssl_handle_2 = NULL;
+#else
+  dlclose(ssl_handle);
+  ssl_handle = NULL;
+#endif
+}
+
 static void htspe_log(htsmoduleStruct* str, const char* msg) {
   const char* savename = str->filename;
   httrackp* opt = (httrackp*) str->opt;
--- /tmp/htslib.c.orig  2006-08-05 09:13:26.537327635 +0200
+++ /tmp/htslib.c       2006-08-05 09:09:40.000000000 +0200
@@ -4990,12 +4990,12 @@
 #endif
 #endif

-  /* Init threads */
+  /* Init threads (lazy init) */
   htsthread_init();

   /* Ensure external modules are loaded */
   HTS_DBG("calling htspe_init()");    /* debug */
-  htspe_init();  /* module load */
+  htspe_init();  /* module load (lazy) */

   /* MD5 Auto-test */
   {
@@ -5034,9 +5034,17 @@
   return 1;
 }

+/* will not free thread env. */
 HTSEXT_API int hts_uninit() {
+  /* hts_init() is a lazy initializer, with limited a allocation (one or two
mutexes) ;
+  we won't free anything here as the .h semantic was never being very clear
*/
+}
+
+HTSEXT_API int hts_uninit_module() {
   if (!hts_init_ok)
     return 1;
+  htsthread_uninit();
+  htspe_uninit();
   hts_init_ok = 0;
   return 1;
 }
--- /tmp/htsmodules.h.orig      2006-08-05 09:13:26.541327247 +0200
+++ /tmp/htsmodules.h   2006-08-05 09:08:08.000000000 +0200
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@
 HTSEXT_API const char* hts_get_version_info(httrackp *opt);
 HTSEXT_API const char* hts_is_available(void);
 extern void htspe_init(void);
+extern void htspe_uninit(void);
 extern int hts_parse_externals(htsmoduleStruct* str);

 extern int gz_is_available;
--- /tmp/htsthread.c.orig       2006-08-05 09:13:26.545326860 +0200
+++ /tmp/htsthread.c    2006-08-05 09:02:17.000000000 +0200
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
 #endif

 static int process_chain = 0;
-static htsmutex process_chain_mutex;
+static htsmutex process_chain_mutex = HTSMUTEX_INIT;

 HTSEXT_API void htsthread_wait(void ) {
   htsthread_wait_n(0);
@@ -67,10 +67,15 @@
 #endif
 }

+/* ensure initialized */
 HTSEXT_API void htsthread_init(void ) {
 #if USE_BEGINTHREAD
+#if (defined(_DEBUG) || defined(DEBUG))
   assertf(process_chain == 0);
+#endif
+  if (process_chain_mutex == HTSMUTEX_INIT) {
   hts_mutexinit(&process_chain_mutex);
+  }
 #endif
 }