This article argues that the diplomacy of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam came closer to failure than we have thought. Between 1945 and 1950, Vietnamese communists had a remarkably hard time joining the internationalist communist movement. Stalin, above all, was wary of Hô Chí Minh, whom he considered untrustworthy for having "dissolved" the Indochinese Communist Party in 1945. This article concludes that, thanks to Chinese communist pressure, Stalin agreed to recognize the DRV. Had he not done so, Vietnamese communists would have found themselves almost completely isolated at a crucial point in their struggle for national independence.