diff --git a/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication.cpp b/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication.cpp
index 37a26cf556..24427bd1af 100644
--- a/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication.cpp
@@ -460,8 +460,8 @@ QCoreApplicationPrivate::QCoreApplicationPrivate(int &aargc, char **aargv, uint
     qt_application_thread_id = QThread::currentThreadId();
 #  endif
 
-    // note: this call to QThread::currentThread() may end up setting theMainThread!
-    if (QThread::currentThread() != theMainThread)
+    QThread *cur = QThread::currentThread(); // note: this may end up setting theMainThread!
+    if (cur != theMainThread)
         qWarning("WARNING: QApplication was not created in the main() thread.");
 #endif
 }
@@ -531,11 +531,11 @@ void QCoreApplicationPrivate::eventDispatcherReady()
 {
 }
 
-QThread *QCoreApplicationPrivate::theMainThread = 0;
+QBasicAtomicPointer<QThread> QCoreApplicationPrivate::theMainThread = Q_BASIC_ATOMIC_INITIALIZER(0);
 QThread *QCoreApplicationPrivate::mainThread()
 {
-    Q_ASSERT(theMainThread != 0);
-    return theMainThread;
+    Q_ASSERT(theMainThread.load() != 0);
+    return theMainThread.load();
 }
 
 void QCoreApplicationPrivate::checkReceiverThread(QObject *receiver)
@@ -2671,7 +2671,7 @@ bool QCoreApplication::hasPendingEvents()
 QAbstractEventDispatcher *QCoreApplication::eventDispatcher()
 {
     if (QCoreApplicationPrivate::theMainThread)
-        return QCoreApplicationPrivate::theMainThread->eventDispatcher();
+        return QCoreApplicationPrivate::theMainThread.load()->eventDispatcher();
     return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication_p.h b/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication_p.h
index 2646a28d71..e985f8d052 100644
--- a/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication_p.h
+++ b/src/corelib/kernel/qcoreapplication_p.h
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ public:
     }
     void maybeQuit();
 
-    static QThread *theMainThread;
+    static QBasicAtomicPointer<QThread> theMainThread;
     static QThread *mainThread();
     static void sendPostedEvents(QObject *receiver, int event_type, QThreadData *data);
 
diff --git a/src/corelib/kernel/qobject.cpp b/src/corelib/kernel/qobject.cpp
index bcc4e7f8e6..f2c67fb3a0 100644
--- a/src/corelib/kernel/qobject.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/kernel/qobject.cpp
@@ -1468,7 +1468,7 @@ void QObject::moveToThread(QThread *targetThread)
     } else if (d->threadData != currentData) {
         qWarning("QObject::moveToThread: Current thread (%p) is not the object's thread (%p).\n"
                  "Cannot move to target thread (%p)\n",
-                 currentData->thread, d->threadData->thread, targetData ? targetData->thread : Q_NULLPTR);
+                 currentData->thread.load(), d->threadData->thread.load(), targetData ? targetData->thread.load() : Q_NULLPTR);
 
 #ifdef Q_OS_MAC
         qWarning("You might be loading two sets of Qt binaries into the same process. "
diff --git a/src/corelib/thread/qthread_p.h b/src/corelib/thread/qthread_p.h
index 1ecd682ad1..8331816729 100644
--- a/src/corelib/thread/qthread_p.h
+++ b/src/corelib/thread/qthread_p.h
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ public:
 
     QStack<QEventLoop *> eventLoops;
     QPostEventList postEventList;
-    QThread *thread;
+    QAtomicPointer<QThread> thread;
     Qt::HANDLE threadId;
     QAtomicPointer<QAbstractEventDispatcher> eventDispatcher;
     QVector<void *> tls;
diff --git a/src/corelib/thread/qthread_unix.cpp b/src/corelib/thread/qthread_unix.cpp
index 77093c9cf1..5698a61326 100644
--- a/src/corelib/thread/qthread_unix.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/thread/qthread_unix.cpp
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ QThreadData *QThreadData::current(bool createIfNecessary)
         data->isAdopted = true;
         data->threadId = (Qt::HANDLE)pthread_self();
         if (!QCoreApplicationPrivate::theMainThread)
-            QCoreApplicationPrivate::theMainThread = data->thread;
+            QCoreApplicationPrivate::theMainThread = data->thread.load();
     }
     return data;
 }
diff --git a/src/corelib/thread/qthread_win.cpp b/src/corelib/thread/qthread_win.cpp
index c16a2e958c..a4b853d62e 100644
--- a/src/corelib/thread/qthread_win.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/thread/qthread_win.cpp
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ QThreadData *QThreadData::current(bool createIfNecessary)
         threadData->threadId = reinterpret_cast<Qt::HANDLE>(GetCurrentThreadId());
 
         if (!QCoreApplicationPrivate::theMainThread) {
-            QCoreApplicationPrivate::theMainThread = threadData->thread;
+            QCoreApplicationPrivate::theMainThread = threadData->thread.load();
             // TODO: is there a way to reflect the branch's behavior using
             // WinRT API?
         } else {
diff --git a/src/corelib/thread/qthreadstorage.cpp b/src/corelib/thread/qthreadstorage.cpp
index 05ab01cc54..37892233f3 100644
--- a/src/corelib/thread/qthreadstorage.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/thread/qthreadstorage.cpp
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ void **QThreadStorageData::get() const
     DEBUG_MSG("QThreadStorageData: Returning storage %d, data %p, for thread %p",
           id,
           *v,
-          data->thread);
+          data->thread.load());
 
     return *v ? v : 0;
 }
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ void **QThreadStorageData::set(void *p)
         DEBUG_MSG("QThreadStorageData: Deleting previous storage %d, data %p, for thread %p",
                 id,
                 value,
-                data->thread);
+                data->thread.load());
 
         QMutexLocker locker(&destructorsMutex);
         DestructorMap *destr = destructors();
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ void **QThreadStorageData::set(void *p)
 
     // store new data
     value = p;
-    DEBUG_MSG("QThreadStorageData: Set storage %d for thread %p to %p", id, data->thread, p);
+    DEBUG_MSG("QThreadStorageData: Set storage %d for thread %p to %p", id, data->thread.load(), p);
     return &value;
 }