diff --git a/include/cantera/thermo/FixedChemPotSSTP.h b/include/cantera/thermo/FixedChemPotSSTP.h
index ebbd5e44e..9ae5cff64 100644
--- a/include/cantera/thermo/FixedChemPotSSTP.h
+++ b/include/cantera/thermo/FixedChemPotSSTP.h
@@ -517,19 +517,6 @@ public:
      */
     virtual void getCp_R_ref(doublereal* cprt) const;
 
-    /*
-     * @internal Initialize. This method is provided to allow
-     * subclasses to perform any initialization required after all
-     * species have been added. For example, it might be used to
-     * resize internal work arrays that must have an entry for
-     * each species.  The base class implementation does nothing,
-     * and subclasses that do not require initialization do not
-     * need to overload this method.  When importing a CTML phase
-     * description, this method is called just prior to returning
-     * from function importPhase().
-     */
-    virtual void initThermo();
-
     virtual void initThermoXML(XML_Node& phaseNode, const std::string& id);
 
     //! Set the equation of state parameters
diff --git a/include/cantera/thermo/IdealSolidSolnPhase.h b/include/cantera/thermo/IdealSolidSolnPhase.h
index 84477fb8f..41cd7415a 100644
--- a/include/cantera/thermo/IdealSolidSolnPhase.h
+++ b/include/cantera/thermo/IdealSolidSolnPhase.h
@@ -791,13 +791,6 @@ public:
     /// @name Utility Functions
     //@{
 
-    /**
-     *  Initialization of an IdealSolidSolnPhase phase:
-     *  Note this function is pretty much useless because it doesn't
-     *  get the xml tree passed to it. Suggest a change.
-     */
-    virtual void initThermo();
-
     /**
       * @internal Import and initialize a ThermoPhase object using an XML
       *   tree. Here we read extra information about the XML description of a
diff --git a/include/cantera/thermo/MetalSHEelectrons.h b/include/cantera/thermo/MetalSHEelectrons.h
index d1bd9009e..ca237498b 100644
--- a/include/cantera/thermo/MetalSHEelectrons.h
+++ b/include/cantera/thermo/MetalSHEelectrons.h
@@ -432,19 +432,6 @@ public:
     virtual void getIntEnergy_RT_ref(doublereal* urt) const;
     // @}
 
-    /*
-     * @internal Initialize. This method is provided to allow
-     * subclasses to perform any initialization required after all
-     * species have been added. For example, it might be used to
-     * resize internal work arrays that must have an entry for
-     * each species.  The base class implementation does nothing,
-     * and subclasses that do not require initialization do not
-     * need to overload this method.  When importing a CTML phase
-     * description, this method is called just prior to returning
-     * from function importPhase().
-     */
-    virtual void initThermo();
-
     virtual void initThermoXML(XML_Node& phaseNode, const std::string& id);
 
     //! Make the default XML tree
diff --git a/include/cantera/thermo/MineralEQ3.h b/include/cantera/thermo/MineralEQ3.h
index 5d099ac03..26678c8b2 100644
--- a/include/cantera/thermo/MineralEQ3.h
+++ b/include/cantera/thermo/MineralEQ3.h
@@ -348,21 +348,6 @@ public:
     virtual void getIntEnergy_RT_ref(doublereal* urt) const;
     //! @}
 
-    //! Internal initialization required after all species have
-    //! been added
-    /*!
-     * @internal Initialize. This method is provided to allow
-     * subclasses to perform any initialization required after all
-     * species have been added. For example, it might be used to
-     * resize internal work arrays that must have an entry for
-     * each species.  The base class implementation does nothing,
-     * and subclasses that do not require initialization do not
-     * need to overload this method.  When importing a CTML phase
-     * description, this method is called just prior to returning
-     * from function importPhase().
-     */
-    virtual void initThermo();
-
     //! Initialize the phase parameters from an XML file.
     /*!
      * initThermoXML()                 (virtual from ThermoPhase)
diff --git a/include/cantera/thermo/WaterSSTP.h b/include/cantera/thermo/WaterSSTP.h
index db1a0ef76..25e9b24b1 100644
--- a/include/cantera/thermo/WaterSSTP.h
+++ b/include/cantera/thermo/WaterSSTP.h
@@ -403,23 +403,6 @@ public:
      */
     virtual void initThermoXML(XML_Node& phaseNode, const std::string& id);
 
-    //! Initialize the ThermoPhase object after all species have been set up
-    /*!
-     * @internal Initialize.
-     *
-     * This method is provided to allow
-     * subclasses to perform any initialization required after all
-     * species have been added. For example, it might be used to
-     * resize internal work arrays that must have an entry for
-     * each species.  The base class implementation does nothing,
-     * and subclasses that do not require initialization do not
-     * need to overload this method.  When importing a CTML phase
-     * description, this method is called from ThermoPhase::initThermoXML(),
-     * which is called from importPhase(),
-     * just prior to returning from function importPhase().
-     */
-    virtual void initThermo();
-
     //! Set equation of state parameter values from XML entries.
     /*!
      * This method is called by function importPhase() when processing a phase
diff --git a/src/thermo/ConstDensityThermo.cpp b/src/thermo/ConstDensityThermo.cpp
index 19a387fcc..dba0dadde 100644
--- a/src/thermo/ConstDensityThermo.cpp
+++ b/src/thermo/ConstDensityThermo.cpp
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ void ConstDensityThermo::getStandardChemPotentials(doublereal* mu0) const
 
 void ConstDensityThermo::initThermo()
 {
-    m_kk = nSpecies();
+    ThermoPhase::initThermo();
     m_h0_RT.resize(m_kk);
     m_g0_RT.resize(m_kk);
     m_cp0_R.resize(m_kk);
diff --git a/src/thermo/FixedChemPotSSTP.cpp b/src/thermo/FixedChemPotSSTP.cpp
index 0f1e961f5..8597dac7e 100644
--- a/src/thermo/FixedChemPotSSTP.cpp
+++ b/src/thermo/FixedChemPotSSTP.cpp
@@ -296,14 +296,6 @@ void FixedChemPotSSTP::getCp_R_ref(doublereal* cpr) const
  * ---- Initialization and Internal functions
  */
 
-void FixedChemPotSSTP::initThermo()
-{
-    /*
-     * Call the base class thermo initializer
-     */
-    SingleSpeciesTP::initThermo();
-}
-
 void FixedChemPotSSTP::initThermoXML(XML_Node& phaseNode, const std::string& id_)
 {
     /*
diff --git a/src/thermo/IdealGasPhase.cpp b/src/thermo/IdealGasPhase.cpp
index 77959b96b..6ae651042 100644
--- a/src/thermo/IdealGasPhase.cpp
+++ b/src/thermo/IdealGasPhase.cpp
@@ -327,6 +327,7 @@ void IdealGasPhase::getStandardVolumes_ref(doublereal* vol) const
 
 void IdealGasPhase::initThermo()
 {
+    ThermoPhase::initThermo();
     m_p0 = refPressure();
     m_h0_RT.resize(m_kk);
     m_g0_RT.resize(m_kk);
diff --git a/src/thermo/IdealSolidSolnPhase.cpp b/src/thermo/IdealSolidSolnPhase.cpp
index d86200e6e..e8be0d4f9 100644
--- a/src/thermo/IdealSolidSolnPhase.cpp
+++ b/src/thermo/IdealSolidSolnPhase.cpp
@@ -523,10 +523,6 @@ const vector_fp& IdealSolidSolnPhase::entropy_R_ref() const
  *    Utility Functions
  *********************************************************************/
 
-void IdealSolidSolnPhase::initThermo()
-{
-}
-
 void IdealSolidSolnPhase::initThermoXML(XML_Node& phaseNode, const std::string& id_)
 {
     string subname = "IdealSolidSolnPhase::initThermoXML";
diff --git a/src/thermo/MetalSHEelectrons.cpp b/src/thermo/MetalSHEelectrons.cpp
index 864440ba1..7fc66e52d 100644
--- a/src/thermo/MetalSHEelectrons.cpp
+++ b/src/thermo/MetalSHEelectrons.cpp
@@ -224,14 +224,6 @@ void MetalSHEelectrons::getIntEnergy_RT_ref(doublereal* urt) const
  * ---- Initialization and Internal functions
  */
 
-void MetalSHEelectrons::initThermo()
-{
-    /*
-     * Call the base class thermo initializer
-     */
-    SingleSpeciesTP::initThermo();
-}
-
 void MetalSHEelectrons::initThermoXML(XML_Node& phaseNode, const std::string& id_)
 {
     /*
diff --git a/src/thermo/MineralEQ3.cpp b/src/thermo/MineralEQ3.cpp
index bc7575994..863652a09 100644
--- a/src/thermo/MineralEQ3.cpp
+++ b/src/thermo/MineralEQ3.cpp
@@ -218,14 +218,6 @@ void MineralEQ3::getIntEnergy_RT_ref(doublereal* urt) const
  * ---- Initialization and Internal functions
  */
 
-void MineralEQ3::initThermo()
-{
-    /*
-     * Call the base class thermo initializer
-     */
-    StoichSubstanceSSTP::initThermo();
-}
-
 void MineralEQ3::setParameters(int n, doublereal* const c)
 {
     doublereal rho = c[0];
diff --git a/src/thermo/StoichSubstance.cpp b/src/thermo/StoichSubstance.cpp
index aa31864ed..3bf970d1c 100644
--- a/src/thermo/StoichSubstance.cpp
+++ b/src/thermo/StoichSubstance.cpp
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ doublereal StoichSubstance::cv_mole() const
 
 void StoichSubstance::initThermo()
 {
+    ThermoPhase::initThermo();
     if (m_kk > 1) {
         throw CanteraError("initThermo",
                            "stoichiometric substances may only contain one species.");
diff --git a/src/thermo/SurfPhase.cpp b/src/thermo/SurfPhase.cpp
index 3fff37002..2b0109fc8 100644
--- a/src/thermo/SurfPhase.cpp
+++ b/src/thermo/SurfPhase.cpp
@@ -274,10 +274,7 @@ void SurfPhase::getCp_R_ref(doublereal* cprt) const
 
 void SurfPhase::initThermo()
 {
-    if (m_kk == 0) {
-        throw CanteraError("SurfPhase::initThermo",
-                           "Number of species is equal to zero");
-    }
+    ThermoPhase::initThermo();
     m_h0.resize(m_kk);
     m_s0.resize(m_kk);
     m_cp0.resize(m_kk);
diff --git a/src/thermo/WaterSSTP.cpp b/src/thermo/WaterSSTP.cpp
index 4ac25bbee..7030b520a 100644
--- a/src/thermo/WaterSSTP.cpp
+++ b/src/thermo/WaterSSTP.cpp
@@ -107,11 +107,6 @@ WaterSSTP::~WaterSSTP()
     delete m_waterProps;
 }
 
-void WaterSSTP::initThermo()
-{
-    SingleSpeciesTP::initThermo();
-}
-
 void WaterSSTP::initThermoXML(XML_Node& phaseNode, const std::string& id)
 {
     /*