diff --git a/source/lib/sysdep/win/win.cpp b/source/lib/sysdep/win/win.cpp
index cf2a0bc7b1..9ed3406acf 100755
--- a/source/lib/sysdep/win/win.cpp
+++ b/source/lib/sysdep/win/win.cpp
@@ -38,6 +38,26 @@ void sle(int x)
 	SetLastError((DWORD)x);
 }
 
+
+//
+// safe allocator that may be used independently of libc malloc
+// (in particular, before _cinit and while calling static dtors).
+// used by wpthread critical section code.
+//
+
+void* win_alloc(size_t size)
+{
+	const DWORD flags = HEAP_ZERO_MEMORY;
+	return HeapAlloc(GetProcessHeap(), flags, size);
+}
+
+void win_free(void* p)
+{
+	const DWORD flags = 0;
+	HeapFree(GetProcessHeap(), flags, p);
+}
+
+
 char win_sys_dir[MAX_PATH+1];
 char win_exe_dir[MAX_PATH+1];
 
diff --git a/source/lib/sysdep/win/win_internal.h b/source/lib/sysdep/win/win_internal.h
index de6467a78a..3dde1bd1dc 100755
--- a/source/lib/sysdep/win/win_internal.h
+++ b/source/lib/sysdep/win/win_internal.h
@@ -404,6 +404,11 @@ extern void win_lock(uint idx);
 extern void win_unlock(uint idx);
 
 
+
+extern void* win_alloc(size_t size);
+extern void win_free(void* p);
+
+
 // thread safe, useable in constructors
 #define WIN_ONCE(code) \
 { \
diff --git a/source/lib/sysdep/win/wpthread.cpp b/source/lib/sysdep/win/wpthread.cpp
index 7cdbf9b21c..fc58751ac6 100644
--- a/source/lib/sysdep/win/wpthread.cpp
+++ b/source/lib/sysdep/win/wpthread.cpp
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ void pthread_join(pthread_t thread, void** value_ptr)
 
 pthread_mutex_t pthread_mutex_initializer()
 {
-	CRITICAL_SECTION* cs = (CRITICAL_SECTION*)HeapAlloc(GetProcessHeap(), 0, sizeof(CRITICAL_SECTION));
+	CRITICAL_SECTION* cs = (CRITICAL_SECTION*)win_alloc(sizeof(CRITICAL_SECTION));
 	InitializeCriticalSection(cs);
 	return (pthread_mutex_t)cs;
 }
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ int pthread_mutex_destroy(pthread_mutex_t* m)
 {
 	CRITICAL_SECTION* cs = (CRITICAL_SECTION*)(*m);
 	DeleteCriticalSection(cs);
-	HeapFree(GetProcessHeap(), 0, cs);
+	win_free(cs);
 	return 0;
 }