Slab pull generated by subducting oceanic lithosphere is generally considered as a major trigger for the onset of continental subduction. However, this may be in conflict with the occurrence of UHP terranes bearing no evidence of oceanic lithospheric rocks involved in the exhumation cycle. Here, we image the uppermost mantle P velocity structure beneath the Central Mediterranean, suggesting the possibility that the initiation of continental subduction may not require a precursor oceanic slab. We combine (i) a three-step inverted 3-D Pn tomography model of the Adriatic microplate with (ii) available geologic constraints and palinspastic reconstructions of the Africa–Eurasia plate-boundary zone. Our Pn tomography model reveals elongated regions with Vp < 7.6 km/s around the Adriatic microplate, clearly connected with the slab structure inferred from teleseismic P wave tomography and supportive of continental subduction along the Dinaric, Alpine and Apenninic subduction zones. Contrasting styles of subduction are observed on the opposite sides of the Adriatic microplate: a laterally variable SW-dipping subduction is documented beneath the Apennines, continental to the north and oceanic to the south, where rollback is faster; a laterally continuous NE-dipping continental subduction is documented under the Dinarides. The lack of a precursor oceanic slab under the Dinarides demonstrates that the onset of continental subduction, in complex plate-boundary zones, can be controlled by plate-tectonic processes far away from the subduction initiation site, and may take place without the contribution of the negative buoyancy of an old oceanic lithosphere. •High resolution 3-D uppermost mantle P wavespeed structures.•Continental subduction at the boundaries of the Adriatic microplate.•Joint geophysical–geologic analysis of the complicated slab structures.•Continental subduction was not triggered by a precursor oceanic slab.•Broad implications to continental subduction initiation.