diff --git a/src/io/iter_image_recordio.cc b/src/io/iter_image_recordio.cc
index e8dcbef2e909..fdb88cc3f366 100644
--- a/src/io/iter_image_recordio.cc
+++ b/src/io/iter_image_recordio.cc
@@ -264,6 +264,8 @@ class ImageRecordIter : public IIterator<DataInst> {
     parser_.Init(kwargs);
     // prefetch at most 4 minbatches
     iter_.set_max_capacity(4);
+    // set random seed
+    rnd_.seed(kRandMagic + param_.seed);
     // init thread iter
     iter_.Init([this](std::vector<InstVector<DType>> **dptr) {
         if (*dptr == nullptr) {
@@ -273,7 +275,6 @@ class ImageRecordIter : public IIterator<DataInst> {
       },
       [this]() { parser_.BeforeFirst(); });
     inst_ptr_ = 0;
-    rnd_.seed(kRandMagic + param_.seed);
   }
   // before first
   virtual void BeforeFirst(void) {