diff --git a/include/downloader.h b/include/downloader.h
index d0b42cf57..4cd8337ad 100644
--- a/include/downloader.h
+++ b/include/downloader.h
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
 #include <map>
-#include <pthread.h>
 #include <memory>
 #include <stdexcept>
 
diff --git a/include/meson.build b/include/meson.build
index 4486c5c5f..4157970e4 100644
--- a/include/meson.build
+++ b/include/meson.build
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ install_headers(
   'tools/pathTools.h',
   'tools/regexTools.h',
   'tools/stringTools.h',
-  'tools/lock.h',
   subdir:'kiwix/tools'
 )
 
diff --git a/include/tools/lock.h b/include/tools/lock.h
deleted file mode 100644
index 98c64937a..000000000
--- a/include/tools/lock.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,46 +0,0 @@
-
-
-#ifndef KIWIXLIB_TOOL_LOCK_H
-#define KIWIXLIB_TOOL_LOCK_H
-
-#include <pthread.h>
-
-namespace kiwix {
-
-class Lock
-{
-  public:
-    explicit Lock(pthread_mutex_t* mutex) :
-      mp_mutex(mutex)
-    {
-      pthread_mutex_lock(mp_mutex);
-    }
-    ~Lock() {
-      if (mp_mutex != nullptr) {
-        pthread_mutex_unlock(mp_mutex);
-      }
-    }
-    Lock(Lock && other) :
-      mp_mutex(other.mp_mutex)
-    {
-      other.mp_mutex = nullptr;
-    }
-    Lock & operator=(Lock && other)
-    {
-      mp_mutex = other.mp_mutex;
-      other.mp_mutex = nullptr;
-      return *this;
-    }
-
-
-  private:
-    pthread_mutex_t* mp_mutex;
-
-    Lock(Lock const &) = delete;
-    Lock & operator=(Lock const &) = delete;
-};
-
-
-}
-
-#endif //KIWIXLIB_TOOL_LOCK_H
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 607b2b377..b12d5823d 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -23,7 +23,12 @@ if ['arm', 'mips', 'm68k', 'ppc', 'sh4'].contains(target_machine.cpu_family())
   extra_libs += '-latomic'
 endif
 
-thread_dep = dependency('threads')
+if (compiler.get_id() == 'gcc' and build_machine.system() == 'linux') or target_machine.system() == 'freebsd'
+  # C++ std::thread is implemented using pthread on linux by gcc
+  thread_dep = dependency('threads')
+else
+  thread_dep = dependency('', required:false)
+endif
 libicu_dep = dependency('icu-i18n', static:static_deps)
 pugixml_dep = dependency('pugixml', static:static_deps)
 libcurl_dep = dependency('libcurl', static:static_deps)
diff --git a/src/entry.cpp b/src/entry.cpp
index 080a52241..91abbe6e9 100644
--- a/src/entry.cpp
+++ b/src/entry.cpp
@@ -20,8 +20,6 @@
 #include "reader.h"
 #include <time.h>
 
-#include <zim/search.h>
-
 namespace kiwix
 {
 
diff --git a/src/server/internalServer.cpp b/src/server/internalServer.cpp
index 0e588b760..52b5960e6 100644
--- a/src/server/internalServer.cpp
+++ b/src/server/internalServer.cpp
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ extern "C" {
 
 #include <mustache.hpp>
 
-#include <pthread.h>
 #include <atomic>
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
diff --git a/src/subprocess_unix.cpp b/src/subprocess_unix.cpp
index 68819255b..8884aadbb 100644
--- a/src/subprocess_unix.cpp
+++ b/src/subprocess_unix.cpp
@@ -12,46 +12,31 @@
 UnixImpl::UnixImpl():
   m_pid(0),
   m_running(false),
-  m_mutex(PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER),
-  m_waitingThread()
+  m_shouldQuit(false)
 {
 }
 
 UnixImpl::~UnixImpl()
 {
   kill();
-// Android has no pthread_cancel :(
-#ifdef __ANDROID__
-  pthread_kill(m_waitingThread, SIGUSR1);
-#else
-  pthread_cancel(m_waitingThread);
-#endif
-  pthread_join(m_waitingThread, nullptr);
+  m_shouldQuit = true;
+  m_waitingThread.join();
 }
 
-#ifdef __ANDROID__
-void thread_exit_handler(int sig) {
-  pthread_exit(0);
-}
-#endif
-
 void* UnixImpl::waitForPID(void* _self)
 {
-#ifdef __ANDROID__
-  struct sigaction actions;
-  memset(&actions, 0, sizeof(actions));
-  sigemptyset(&actions.sa_mask);
-  actions.sa_flags = 0;
-  actions.sa_handler = thread_exit_handler;
-  sigaction(SIGUSR1, &actions, NULL);
-#endif
-
   UnixImpl* self = static_cast<UnixImpl*>(_self);
-  waitpid(self->m_pid, NULL, 0);
+  while (true) {
+    if (!waitpid(self->m_pid, NULL, WNOHANG)) {
+      break;
+    }
+    if (self->m_shouldQuit) {
+      return nullptr;
+    }
+    std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(100));
+  }
 
-  pthread_mutex_lock(&self->m_mutex);
   self->m_running = false;
-  pthread_mutex_unlock(&self->m_mutex);
 
   return self;
 }
@@ -75,7 +60,7 @@ void UnixImpl::run(commandLine_t& commandLine)
     default:
       m_pid = pid;
       m_running = true;
-      pthread_create(&m_waitingThread, NULL, waitForPID, this);
+      m_waitingThread = std::thread(waitForPID, this);
       break;
   }
 }
@@ -87,8 +72,5 @@ bool UnixImpl::kill()
 
 bool UnixImpl::isRunning()
 {
-  pthread_mutex_lock(&m_mutex);
-  bool ret = m_running;
-  pthread_mutex_unlock(&m_mutex);
-  return ret;
+  return m_running;
 }
diff --git a/src/subprocess_unix.h b/src/subprocess_unix.h
index 22a03b525..77becd612 100644
--- a/src/subprocess_unix.h
+++ b/src/subprocess_unix.h
@@ -3,16 +3,16 @@
 
 #include "subprocess.h"
 
-#include <pthread.h>
-
+#include <atomic>
+#include <thread>
 
 class UnixImpl : public SubprocessImpl
 {
   private:
     int m_pid;
-    bool m_running;
-    pthread_mutex_t m_mutex;
-    pthread_t m_waitingThread;
+    std::atomic<bool> m_running;
+    std::atomic<bool> m_shouldQuit;
+    std::thread m_waitingThread;
 
   public:
     UnixImpl();
diff --git a/src/tools/regexTools.cpp b/src/tools/regexTools.cpp
index 72fc29aa8..36305cbbc 100644
--- a/src/tools/regexTools.cpp
+++ b/src/tools/regexTools.cpp
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
  */
 
 #include <tools/regexTools.h>
-#include <tools/lock.h>
 
 #include <unicode/regex.h>
 #include <unicode/ucnv.h>
@@ -26,10 +25,10 @@
 #include <memory>
 #include <map>
 #include <stdexcept>
-#include <pthread.h>
+#include <mutex>
 
 std::map<std::string, std::shared_ptr<icu::RegexPattern>> regexCache;
-static pthread_mutex_t regexLock = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
+static std::mutex regexLock;
 
 std::unique_ptr<icu::RegexMatcher> buildMatcher(const std::string& regex, icu::UnicodeString& content)
 {
@@ -39,7 +38,7 @@ std::unique_ptr<icu::RegexMatcher> buildMatcher(const std::string& regex, icu::U
     pattern = regexCache.at(regex);
   } catch (std::out_of_range&) {
     // Redo the search with a lock to avoid race condition.
-    kiwix::Lock l(&regexLock);
+    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> l(regexLock);
     try {
       pattern = regexCache.at(regex);
     } catch (std::out_of_range&) {
diff --git a/src/wrapper/java/kiwixicu.cpp b/src/wrapper/java/kiwixicu.cpp
index 0c604ebdd..a10b57886 100644
--- a/src/wrapper/java/kiwixicu.cpp
+++ b/src/wrapper/java/kiwixicu.cpp
@@ -28,11 +28,7 @@
 
 #include "utils.h"
 
-#if __ANDROID__
-pthread_mutex_t globalLock = PTHREAD_RECURSIVE_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
-#else
-pthread_mutex_t globalLock = PTHREAD_RECURSIVE_MUTEX_INITIALIZER_NP;
-#endif
+std::mutex globalLock;
 
 JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_org_kiwix_kiwixlib_JNIICU_setDataDirectory(
     JNIEnv* env, jclass kclass, jstring dirStr)
diff --git a/src/wrapper/java/utils.h b/src/wrapper/java/utils.h
index f9220403f..00b5855a5 100644
--- a/src/wrapper/java/utils.h
+++ b/src/wrapper/java/utils.h
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 
 #include <jni.h>
 
-#include <pthread.h>
+#include <mutex>
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
 #include <iostream>
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
  #define LOG(...)
 #endif
 
-extern pthread_mutex_t globalLock;
+extern std::mutex globalLock;
 
 template<typename T>
 void setPtr(JNIEnv* env, jobject thisObj, T* ptr)
@@ -88,22 +88,10 @@ inline jobjectArray createArray(JNIEnv* env, size_t length, const std::string& t
   return env->NewObjectArray(length, c, NULL);
 }
 
-class Lock
+class Lock : public std::unique_lock<std::mutex>
 {
- protected:
-  pthread_mutex_t* lock;
-
  public:
-  Lock() : lock(&globalLock) { pthread_mutex_lock(lock); }
-  Lock(const Lock&) = delete;
-  Lock& operator=(const Lock&) = delete;
-  Lock(Lock&& other) : lock(&globalLock) { other.lock = nullptr; }
-  virtual ~Lock()
-  {
-    if (lock) {
-      pthread_mutex_unlock(lock);
-    }
-  }
+  Lock() : std::unique_lock<std::mutex>(globalLock) { }
 };
 
 template <class T>
diff --git a/test/manager.cpp b/test/manager.cpp
index 6a2bbe8bd..13446c466 100644
--- a/test/manager.cpp
+++ b/test/manager.cpp
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ TEST(ManagerTest, addBookFromPathAndGetIdTest)
     kiwix::Manager manager = kiwix::Manager(&lib);
 
     auto bookId = manager.addBookFromPathAndGetId("./test/example.zim");
-    EXPECT_NE(bookId, "");
+    ASSERT_NE(bookId, "");
     kiwix::Book book = lib.getBookById(bookId);
     EXPECT_EQ(book.getPath(), computeAbsolutePath("", "./test/example.zim"));
     
@@ -22,4 +22,4 @@ TEST(ManagerTest, addBookFromPathAndGetIdTest)
     auto savedPath = computeAbsolutePath(removeLastPathElement(manager.writableLibraryPath), pathToSave);
     EXPECT_EQ(book.getPath(), savedPath);
     EXPECT_EQ(book.getUrl(), url);
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}