diff --git a/inst/app/app-dev.R b/inst/app/app-dev.R
index 3ccc942..4112287 100644
--- a/inst/app/app-dev.R
+++ b/inst/app/app-dev.R
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ ui <- fluidPage(
     theme = bslib::bs_theme(version = 5L),
     # add button
     actionButton("show_wizard", "Show wizard"),
+    actionButton("show_shinyalert", "Show shinyalert"),
     wizard(
       modal = TRUE,
       lock_start = TRUE,
diff --git a/inst/main.js b/inst/main.js
index 65d1838..7f14df3 100644
--- a/inst/main.js
+++ b/inst/main.js
@@ -11,10 +11,18 @@ $.extend(wizard, {
     
     let args = $(el).data("configuration");
 
+    // check if wizard is initialized, return if yes
+    //TODO debug why shinyalert is causing the wizard to re-initialize
+    if ($(el).data("wizard")) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+
     const wizard = new Wizard(args);
 
     wizard.init();
 
+
     // expose wizard.lock function
     this.lock = function() {
       wizard.lock();
@@ -58,6 +66,7 @@ $.extend(wizard, {
     } else if (msg === "reset") {
       this.reset();
     }
+    //TODO understand why message show is not being received
     //  else if (msg.type === "show") {
     //   var modal = bootstrap.Modal.getOrCreateInstance(
     //     document.getElementById('wizard-modal-' + el.id), {}