diff --git a/src/autolabel/cache/base.py b/src/autolabel/cache/base.py
index 299c4de9..e4a0270a 100644
--- a/src/autolabel/cache/base.py
+++ b/src/autolabel/cache/base.py
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@ class BaseCache(ABC):
     def __init__(self) -> None:
         super().__init__()
 
+    @abstractmethod
+    def initialize():
+        """initialize the cache. Must be implemented by classes derived from BaseCache."""
+        pass
+
     @abstractmethod
     def lookup(self, entry):
         """abstract method to retrieve a cached entry. Must be implemented by classes derived from BaseCache."""
diff --git a/src/autolabel/cache/redis_cache.py b/src/autolabel/cache/redis_cache.py
index bf39f73a..d7e5a848 100644
--- a/src/autolabel/cache/redis_cache.py
+++ b/src/autolabel/cache/redis_cache.py
@@ -12,10 +12,14 @@ class RedisCache(BaseCache):
     """A cache system implemented with Redis"""
 
     def __init__(self, endpoint: str, db: int = 0):
+        self.endpoint = endpoint
+        self.db = db
+
+    def initialize(self):
         try:
             from redis import Redis
 
-            self.redis = Redis.from_url(endpoint, db=db)
+            self.redis = Redis.from_url(self.endpoint, db=self.db)
         except ImportError:
             raise ImportError(
                 "redis is required to use the Redis Cache. Please install it with the following command: pip install redis"
diff --git a/src/autolabel/cache/sqlalchemy_generation_cache.py b/src/autolabel/cache/sqlalchemy_generation_cache.py
index 338d4931..3803a37b 100644
--- a/src/autolabel/cache/sqlalchemy_generation_cache.py
+++ b/src/autolabel/cache/sqlalchemy_generation_cache.py
@@ -16,12 +16,12 @@ class SQLAlchemyGenerationCache(BaseCache):
     """A cache system implemented with SQL Alchemy"""
 
     def __init__(self):
-        self.engine = create_db_engine()
+        self.engine = None
         self.base = Base
         self.session = None
-        self.initialize()
 
     def initialize(self):
+        self.engine = create_db_engine()
         self.base.metadata.create_all(self.engine)
         self.session = sessionmaker(bind=self.engine)()
 
diff --git a/src/autolabel/cache/sqlalchemy_transform_cache.py b/src/autolabel/cache/sqlalchemy_transform_cache.py
index 9a144970..9b7aa54b 100644
--- a/src/autolabel/cache/sqlalchemy_transform_cache.py
+++ b/src/autolabel/cache/sqlalchemy_transform_cache.py
@@ -20,12 +20,12 @@ class SQLAlchemyTransformCache(BaseCache):
     """
 
     def __init__(self):
-        self.engine = create_db_engine()
+        self.engine = None
         self.base = Base
         self.session = None
-        self.initialize()
 
     def initialize(self):
+        self.engine = create_db_engine()
         self.base.metadata.create_all(self.engine)
         self.session = sessionmaker(bind=self.engine)()
 
diff --git a/src/autolabel/labeler.py b/src/autolabel/labeler.py
index ad8a3360..d3187419 100644
--- a/src/autolabel/labeler.py
+++ b/src/autolabel/labeler.py
@@ -82,6 +82,11 @@ def __init__(
             self.generation_cache = None
             self.transform_cache = None
 
+        if self.generation_cache is not None:
+            self.generation_cache.initialize()
+        if self.transform_cache is not None:
+            self.transform_cache.initialize()
+
         self.console = Console(quiet=not console_output)
 
         self.config = (