diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/ucln_cmn.c b/icu4c/source/common/ucln_cmn.c
index 61c9986fe2..c2057e475e 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/ucln_cmn.c
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/ucln_cmn.c
@@ -137,8 +137,6 @@ U_CFUNC UBool u_ICUStaticInitFunc()
 {
     UErrorCode status = U_ZERO_ERROR;
 
-#if (ICU_USE_THREADS == 1)
-/* Initialize mutexes only if threading is supported */
     UBool heapInUse = cmemory_inUse();
     umtx_init(NULL);
     ucnv_init(&status);
@@ -149,7 +147,6 @@ U_CFUNC UBool u_ICUStaticInitFunc()
          *  have done some heap allocation. */
         cmemory_clearInUse();
     }
-#endif /* ICU_USE_THREADS==1 */
     return TRUE;
 }
 
diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/umutex.c b/icu4c/source/common/umutex.c
index a3253bbff7..fb3fcebd43 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/umutex.c
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/umutex.c
@@ -277,14 +277,13 @@ umtx_destroy(UMTX *mutex) {
 #if (ICU_USE_THREADS == 1)
 #if defined (WIN32)
         DeleteCriticalSection((CRITICAL_SECTION*)*mutex);
-        
+        uprv_free(*mutex);
 #elif defined (POSIX)
         pthread_mutex_destroy((pthread_mutex_t*)*mutex);
-        
+        uprv_free(*mutex);
 #endif
 #endif /* ICU_USE_THREADS==1 */
         
-        uprv_free(*mutex);
     }
     *mutex = NULL;
 
diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/unicode/uclean.h b/icu4c/source/common/unicode/uclean.h
index d9eb936bd6..284b2ebaf6 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/unicode/uclean.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/unicode/uclean.h
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ typedef void U_CALLCONV UMtxFunc   (const void *context, UMTX  *mutex);
   *  This function can only be used when ICU is in an initial, unused state, before
   *  u_init() has been called.
   *  This function may be used even when ICU has been built without multi-threaded
-  *  support  (see ICU_USE_THREADS pre-processor variable)
+  *  support  (see ICU_USE_THREADS pre-processor variable, umutex.h)
   *  @param context This pointer value will be saved, and then (later) passed as
   *                 a parameter to the increment and decrement functions each time they
   *                 are called.  This function can only be called 
diff --git a/icu4c/source/test/intltest/tsmthred.cpp b/icu4c/source/test/intltest/tsmthred.cpp
index 8f33caba79..3763c9c2d2 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/test/intltest/tsmthred.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/test/intltest/tsmthred.cpp
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@
 #endif
 
 #include <unicode/umachine.h>
+#include "unicode/utypes.h"
+#include "umutex.h"
+
 
 // Just turn off threads on cygwin, so that we can test
 // the other stuff. This needs to be investigated further.
@@ -66,17 +69,7 @@
 #undef sleep
 #endif
 
-#include "unicode/utypes.h"
 
-/* APP_NO_THREADS is an old symbol. We'll honour it if present. */
-#ifdef APP_NO_THREADS
-# define ICU_USE_THREADS 0
-#endif
-
-/* Default: use threads. */
-#ifndef ICU_USE_THREADS
-# define ICU_USE_THREADS 1
-#endif
 
 #include "tsmthred.h"
 
@@ -894,6 +887,7 @@ void MultithreadTest::TestThreadedIntl()
     }
     umtx_destroy(&ftMutex);
     return;
+
 }
 
 #endif /* #if !UCONFIG_NO_FORMATTING */