diff --git a/userspace/digwatch/digwatch.cpp b/userspace/digwatch/digwatch.cpp
index 24a5a887..d58c522a 100644
--- a/userspace/digwatch/digwatch.cpp
+++ b/userspace/digwatch/digwatch.cpp
@@ -150,6 +150,7 @@ int digwatch_init(int argc, char **argv)
 	int long_index = 0;
 	string lua_main_filename;
 	string lua_dir = DIGWATCH_INSTALLATION_DIR;
+	lua_State* ls;
 
 	static struct option long_options[] =
 	{
@@ -259,7 +260,11 @@ int digwatch_init(int argc, char **argv)
 			lua_main_filename = lua_dir + DIGWATCH_LUA_MAIN;
 		}
 
-		rules = new digwatch_rules(inspector, lua_main_filename, lua_dir);
+		// Initialize Lua interpreter
+		ls = lua_open();
+		luaL_openlibs(ls);
+
+		rules = new digwatch_rules(inspector, ls, lua_main_filename, lua_dir);
 
 		rules->load_rules(rules_file);
 		inspector->set_filter(rules->get_filter());
@@ -290,6 +295,7 @@ exit:
 		delete inspector;
 	}
 
+	lua_close(ls);
 	return result;
 }
 
diff --git a/userspace/digwatch/rules.cpp b/userspace/digwatch/rules.cpp
index 4bbe9088..0b50c9ef 100644
--- a/userspace/digwatch/rules.cpp
+++ b/userspace/digwatch/rules.cpp
@@ -15,13 +15,11 @@ const static struct luaL_reg ll_digwatch [] =
 	{NULL,NULL}
 };
 
-digwatch_rules::digwatch_rules(sinsp* inspector, string lua_main_filename, string lua_dir)
+digwatch_rules::digwatch_rules(sinsp* inspector, lua_State *ls, string lua_main_filename, string lua_dir)
 {
 	g_inspector = inspector;
 
-	// Initialize Lua interpreter
-	m_ls = lua_open();
-	luaL_openlibs(m_ls);
+	m_ls = ls;
 
 	m_lua_parser = new lua_parser(inspector, m_ls);
 
diff --git a/userspace/digwatch/rules.h b/userspace/digwatch/rules.h
index bdec045a..60b15e81 100644
--- a/userspace/digwatch/rules.h
+++ b/userspace/digwatch/rules.h
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ class sinsp_evt_formatter;
 class digwatch_rules
 {
  public:
-	digwatch_rules(sinsp* inspector, string lua_main_filename, string lua_dir);
+	digwatch_rules(sinsp* inspector, lua_State *ls, string lua_main_filename, string lua_dir);
 	~digwatch_rules();
 	void load_rules(string rules_filename);
 	sinsp_filter* get_filter();