diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index 2634f397..42f33092 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ int main (int argc, char* argv[]) {
 	logg("FTL hash: %s", GIT_VERSION);
 	logg("FTL date: %s", GIT_DATE);
 	logg("FTL user: %s", username);
+	init_thread_lock();
 
 	// pihole-FTL should really be run as user "pihole" to not mess up with the file permissions
 	// still allow this if "debug" flag is set
diff --git a/routines.h b/routines.h
index 356359a1..61878d2a 100644
--- a/routines.h
+++ b/routines.h
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ char* find_equals(const char* s);
 
 void enable_thread_lock(const char *message);
 void disable_thread_lock(const char *message);
+void init_thread_lock(void);
 
 void read_FTLconf(void);
 
diff --git a/threads.c b/threads.c
index fd85e1d3..f40d62e8 100644
--- a/threads.c
+++ b/threads.c
@@ -14,23 +14,36 @@
 // Any of the various threads (logparser, GC, client threads) is accessing FTL's data structure. Hence, they should
 // never run at the same time since the data can change half-way through, leading to unspecified behavior.
 // threadlock:  The threadlock ensures that only one thread can be active at any given time
-bool threadlock = false;
+pthread_mutex_t threadlock;
 
 void enable_thread_lock(const char *message)
 {
-	while(threadlock) sleepms(5);
+	int ret = pthread_mutex_lock(&threadlock);
+
+	if(ret != 0)
+		logg("Thread lock error: %i",ret);
 
 	if(debugthreads)
-		logg("Thread lock enabled: %s", message);
-
-	// Set threadlock
-	threadlock = true;
+		logg("Thread locked: %s", message);
 }
 
 void disable_thread_lock(const char *message)
 {
-	threadlock = false;
+	int ret = pthread_mutex_unlock(&threadlock);
+
+	if(ret != 0)
+		logg("Thread unlock error: %i",ret);
 
 	if(debugthreads)
-		logg("Thread lock disabled: %s", message);
+		logg("Thread unlocked: %s", message);
+}
+
+void init_thread_lock(void)
+{
+	if (pthread_mutex_init(&threadlock, NULL) != 0)
+	{
+		logg("FATAL: Thread mutex init failed\n");
+		// Return failure
+		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
 }