diff --git a/bench/MutexBench.cpp b/bench/MutexBench.cpp
index d9b427b..af8a840 100644
--- a/bench/MutexBench.cpp
+++ b/bench/MutexBench.cpp
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 
     virtual void onDraw(SkCanvas* canvas) {
         for (int i = 0; i < N; i++) {
-            SkMutex mu;
+            SK_DECLARE_STATIC_MUTEX(mu);
             for (int j = 0; j < M; j++) {
                 mu.acquire();
                 mu.release();
diff --git a/gyp/common_conditions.gypi b/gyp/common_conditions.gypi
index 99cabc9..faa48fb 100644
--- a/gyp/common_conditions.gypi
+++ b/gyp/common_conditions.gypi
@@ -205,6 +205,14 @@
       },
     ],
 
+    # We can POD-style initialization of static mutexes to avoid generating
+    # static initializers if we're using a pthread-compatible thread interface.
+    [ 'skia_os != "win"', {
+      'defines': [
+        'SK_USE_POSIX_THREADS'
+      ],
+    }],
+
   ], # end 'conditions'
 }
 
diff --git a/include/core/SkPixelRef.h b/include/core/SkPixelRef.h
index e247479..3f07844 100644
--- a/include/core/SkPixelRef.h
+++ b/include/core/SkPixelRef.h
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
 */
 class SkPixelRef : public SkRefCnt {
 public:
-    explicit SkPixelRef(SkMutex* mutex = NULL);
+    explicit SkPixelRef(SkBaseMutex* mutex = NULL);
 
     /** Return the pixel memory returned from lockPixels, or null if the
         lockCount is 0.
@@ -201,16 +201,16 @@
     /** Return the mutex associated with this pixelref. This value is assigned
         in the constructor, and cannot change during the lifetime of the object.
     */
-    SkMutex* mutex() const { return fMutex; }
+    SkBaseMutex* mutex() const { return fMutex; }
 
-    SkPixelRef(SkFlattenableReadBuffer&, SkMutex*);
+    SkPixelRef(SkFlattenableReadBuffer&, SkBaseMutex*);
 
 private:
 #if !SK_ALLOW_STATIC_GLOBAL_INITIALIZERS
     static void InitializeFlattenables();
 #endif
 
-    SkMutex*        fMutex; // must remain in scope for the life of this object
+    SkBaseMutex*    fMutex; // must remain in scope for the life of this object
     void*           fPixels;
     SkColorTable*   fColorTable;    // we do not track ownership, subclass does
     int             fLockCount;
diff --git a/include/core/SkThread.h b/include/core/SkThread.h
index 5f2da4a..1495a16 100644
--- a/include/core/SkThread.h
+++ b/include/core/SkThread.h
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 
 class SkAutoMutexAcquire : SkNoncopyable {
 public:
-    explicit SkAutoMutexAcquire(SkMutex& mutex) : fMutex(&mutex)
+    explicit SkAutoMutexAcquire(SkBaseMutex& mutex) : fMutex(&mutex)
     {
         SkASSERT(fMutex != NULL);
         mutex.acquire();
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@
     }
         
 private:
-    SkMutex* fMutex;
+    SkBaseMutex* fMutex;
 };
 
 #endif
diff --git a/include/core/SkThread_platform.h b/include/core/SkThread_platform.h
index cbb4891..94a4a1e 100644
--- a/include/core/SkThread_platform.h
+++ b/include/core/SkThread_platform.h
@@ -78,7 +78,44 @@
 */
 SK_API int32_t sk_atomic_dec(int32_t* addr);
 
-class SkMutex {
+#endif
+
+#ifdef SK_USE_POSIX_THREADS
+
+#include <pthread.h>
+
+// A SkBaseMutex is a POD structure that can be directly initialized
+// at declaration time with SK_DECLARE_STATIC/GLOBAL_MUTEX. This avoids the
+// generation of a static initializer in the final machine code (and
+// a corresponding static finalizer).
+//
+struct SkBaseMutex {
+    void    acquire() { pthread_mutex_lock(&fMutex); }
+    void    release() { pthread_mutex_unlock(&fMutex); }
+    pthread_mutex_t  fMutex;
+};
+
+// Using POD-style initialization prevents the generation of a static initializer
+// and keeps the acquire() implementation small and fast.
+#define SK_DECLARE_STATIC_MUTEX(name)   static SkBaseMutex  name = { PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER }
+
+// Special case used when the static mutex must be available globally.
+#define SK_DECLARE_GLOBAL_MUTEX(name)   SkBaseMutex  name = { PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER }
+
+// A normal mutex that requires to be initialized through normal C++ construction,
+// i.e. when it's a member of another class, or allocated on the heap.
+class SkMutex : public SkBaseMutex, SkNoncopyable {
+public:
+    SkMutex();
+    ~SkMutex();
+};
+
+#else // !SK_USE_POSIX_THREADS
+
+// In the generic case, SkBaseMutex and SkMutex are the same thing, and we
+// can't easily get rid of static initializers.
+//
+class SkMutex : SkNoncopyable {
 public:
     SkMutex();
     ~SkMutex();
@@ -94,6 +131,12 @@
     uint32_t    fStorage[kStorageIntCount];
 };
 
-#endif
+typedef SkMutex SkBaseMutex;
+
+#define SK_DECLARE_STATIC_MUTEX(name)  static SkBaseMutex  name
+#define SK_DECLARE_GLOBAL_MUTEX(name)  SkBaseMutex  name
+
+#endif // !SK_USE_POSIX_THREADS
+
 
 #endif
diff --git a/include/pdf/SkPDFFont.h b/include/pdf/SkPDFFont.h
index b884017..2ebdec7 100644
--- a/include/pdf/SkPDFFont.h
+++ b/include/pdf/SkPDFFont.h
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@
 
     // This should be made a hash table if performance is a problem.
     static SkTDArray<FontRec>& CanonicalFonts();
-    static SkMutex& CanonicalFontsMutex();
+    static SkBaseMutex& CanonicalFontsMutex();
 };
 
 #endif
diff --git a/include/pdf/SkPDFGraphicState.h b/include/pdf/SkPDFGraphicState.h
index 9420405..af01737 100644
--- a/include/pdf/SkPDFGraphicState.h
+++ b/include/pdf/SkPDFGraphicState.h
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@
 
     // This should be made a hash table if performance is a problem.
     static SkTDArray<GSCanonicalEntry>& CanonicalPaints();
-    static SkMutex& CanonicalPaintsMutex();
+    static SkBaseMutex& CanonicalPaintsMutex();
 
     SkPDFGraphicState();
     explicit SkPDFGraphicState(const SkPaint& paint);
diff --git a/include/pdf/SkPDFShader.h b/include/pdf/SkPDFShader.h
index 6b6ae03..439d83b 100644
--- a/include/pdf/SkPDFShader.h
+++ b/include/pdf/SkPDFShader.h
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@
     };
     // This should be made a hash table if performance is a problem.
     static SkTDArray<ShaderCanonicalEntry>& CanonicalShaders();
-    static SkMutex& CanonicalShadersMutex();
+    static SkBaseMutex& CanonicalShadersMutex();
     static void RemoveShader(SkPDFObject* shader);
 
     SkPDFShader();
diff --git a/obsolete/SkGLDevice.cpp b/obsolete/SkGLDevice.cpp
index ec819d2..d4606d9 100644
--- a/obsolete/SkGLDevice.cpp
+++ b/obsolete/SkGLDevice.cpp
@@ -867,7 +867,7 @@
 #include "SkTextureCache.h"
 #include "SkThread.h"
 
-static SkMutex gTextureCacheMutex;
+SK_DECLARE_STATIC_MUTEX(gTextureCacheMutex);
 static SkTextureCache gTextureCache(kTexCountMax_Default, kTexSizeMax_Default);
 
 SkGLDevice::TexCache* SkGLDevice::LockTexCache(const SkBitmap& bitmap,
diff --git a/src/core/SkMemory_stdlib.cpp b/src/core/SkMemory_stdlib.cpp
index df87359..033b331 100644
--- a/src/core/SkMemory_stdlib.cpp
+++ b/src/core/SkMemory_stdlib.cpp
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 #define kByteFill 0xCD
 #define kDeleteFill 0xEF
 
-static SkMutex& get_block_mutex() {
+static SkBaseMutex& get_block_mutex() {
     static SkMutex* gBlockMutex;
     if (NULL == gBlockMutex) {
         gBlockMutex = new SkMutex;
diff --git a/src/core/SkPixelRef.cpp b/src/core/SkPixelRef.cpp
index 1f28ae7..d5e1b81 100644
--- a/src/core/SkPixelRef.cpp
+++ b/src/core/SkPixelRef.cpp
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 #include "SkFlattenable.h"
 #include "SkThread.h"
 
-static SkMutex  gPixelRefMutex;
+SK_DECLARE_STATIC_MUTEX(gPixelRefMutex);
 
 extern int32_t SkNextPixelRefGenerationID();
 int32_t SkNextPixelRefGenerationID() {
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 }
 
 
-SkPixelRef::SkPixelRef(SkMutex* mutex) {
+SkPixelRef::SkPixelRef(SkBaseMutex* mutex) {
     if (NULL == mutex) {
         mutex = &gPixelRefMutex;
     }
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
     fIsImmutable = false;
 }
 
-SkPixelRef::SkPixelRef(SkFlattenableReadBuffer& buffer, SkMutex* mutex) {
+SkPixelRef::SkPixelRef(SkFlattenableReadBuffer& buffer, SkBaseMutex* mutex) {
     if (NULL == mutex) {
         mutex = &gPixelRefMutex;
     }
diff --git a/src/core/SkTypefaceCache.cpp b/src/core/SkTypefaceCache.cpp
index 5a0b36c..929b795 100644
--- a/src/core/SkTypefaceCache.cpp
+++ b/src/core/SkTypefaceCache.cpp
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@
     return sk_atomic_inc(&gFontID) + 1;
 }
 
-static SkMutex gMutex;
+SK_DECLARE_STATIC_MUTEX(gMutex);
 
 void SkTypefaceCache::Add(SkTypeface* face, SkTypeface::Style requestedStyle) {
     SkAutoMutexAcquire ama(gMutex);
diff --git a/src/effects/SkGradientShader.cpp b/src/effects/SkGradientShader.cpp
index 240a7a4..e32acb2 100644
--- a/src/effects/SkGradientShader.cpp
+++ b/src/effects/SkGradientShader.cpp
@@ -755,7 +755,7 @@
 
     ///////////////////////////////////
 
-    static SkMutex gMutex;
+    SK_DECLARE_STATIC_MUTEX(gMutex);
     static SkBitmapCache* gCache;
     // each cache cost 1K of RAM, since each bitmap will be 1x256 at 32bpp
     static const int MAX_NUM_CACHED_GRADIENT_BITMAPS = 32;
diff --git a/src/gpu/SkGrTexturePixelRef.cpp b/src/gpu/SkGrTexturePixelRef.cpp
index 045ddab..4b546d6 100644
--- a/src/gpu/SkGrTexturePixelRef.cpp
+++ b/src/gpu/SkGrTexturePixelRef.cpp
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 // since we call lockPixels recursively on fBitmap, we need a distinct mutex,
 // to avoid deadlock with the default one provided by SkPixelRef.
-static SkMutex  gROLockPixelsPixelRefMutex;
+SK_DECLARE_STATIC_MUTEX(gROLockPixelsPixelRefMutex);
 
 SkROLockPixelsPixelRef::SkROLockPixelsPixelRef() : INHERITED(&gROLockPixelsPixelRefMutex) {
 }
diff --git a/src/images/SkImageRef.cpp b/src/images/SkImageRef.cpp
index 2d53f7e..1d6b270 100644
--- a/src/images/SkImageRef.cpp
+++ b/src/images/SkImageRef.cpp
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 //#define DUMP_IMAGEREF_LIFECYCLE
 
 // can't be static, as SkImageRef_Pool needs to see it
-SkMutex gImageRefMutex;
+SK_DECLARE_GLOBAL_MUTEX(gImageRefMutex);
 
 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
diff --git a/src/images/SkImageRef_GlobalPool.cpp b/src/images/SkImageRef_GlobalPool.cpp
index 6ea42c1..93e7535 100644
--- a/src/images/SkImageRef_GlobalPool.cpp
+++ b/src/images/SkImageRef_GlobalPool.cpp
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 #include "SkImageRefPool.h"
 #include "SkThread.h"
 
-extern SkMutex gImageRefMutex;
+extern SkBaseMutex gImageRefMutex;
 
 static SkImageRefPool gGlobalImageRefPool;
 
diff --git a/src/pdf/SkPDFFont.cpp b/src/pdf/SkPDFFont.cpp
index 465fbe1..3aea4b8 100644
--- a/src/pdf/SkPDFFont.cpp
+++ b/src/pdf/SkPDFFont.cpp
@@ -797,9 +797,10 @@
 }
 
 // static
-SkMutex& SkPDFFont::CanonicalFontsMutex() {
-    // This initialization is only thread safe with gcc.
-    static SkMutex gCanonicalFontsMutex;
+SkBaseMutex& SkPDFFont::CanonicalFontsMutex() {
+    // This initialization is only thread safe with gcc, or when
+    // POD-style mutex initialization is used.
+    SK_DECLARE_STATIC_MUTEX(gCanonicalFontsMutex);
     return gCanonicalFontsMutex;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/pdf/SkPDFGraphicState.cpp b/src/pdf/SkPDFGraphicState.cpp
index ad3f57b..ec9b0e7 100644
--- a/src/pdf/SkPDFGraphicState.cpp
+++ b/src/pdf/SkPDFGraphicState.cpp
@@ -85,9 +85,10 @@
 }
 
 // static
-SkMutex& SkPDFGraphicState::CanonicalPaintsMutex() {
-    // This initialization is only thread safe with gcc.
-    static SkMutex gCanonicalPaintsMutex;
+SkBaseMutex& SkPDFGraphicState::CanonicalPaintsMutex() {
+    // This initialization is only thread safe with gcc or when
+    // POD-style mutex initialization is used.
+    SK_DECLARE_STATIC_MUTEX(gCanonicalPaintsMutex);
     return gCanonicalPaintsMutex;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/pdf/SkPDFShader.cpp b/src/pdf/SkPDFShader.cpp
index b6e0939..183a4ff 100644
--- a/src/pdf/SkPDFShader.cpp
+++ b/src/pdf/SkPDFShader.cpp
@@ -391,9 +391,10 @@
 }
 
 // static
-SkMutex& SkPDFShader::CanonicalShadersMutex() {
-    // This initialization is only thread safe with gcc.
-    static SkMutex gCanonicalShadersMutex;
+SkBaseMutex& SkPDFShader::CanonicalShadersMutex() {
+    // This initialization is only thread safe with gcc or when
+    // POD-style mutex initialization is used.
+    SK_DECLARE_STATIC_MUTEX(gCanonicalShadersMutex);
     return gCanonicalShadersMutex;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/ports/SkFontHost_FreeType.cpp b/src/ports/SkFontHost_FreeType.cpp
index a58cd37..caca577 100644
--- a/src/ports/SkFontHost_FreeType.cpp
+++ b/src/ports/SkFontHost_FreeType.cpp
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@
 
 struct SkFaceRec;
 
-static SkMutex      gFTMutex;
+SK_DECLARE_STATIC_MUTEX(gFTMutex);
 static int          gFTCount;
 static FT_Library   gFTLibrary;
 static SkFaceRec*   gFaceRecHead;
diff --git a/src/ports/SkFontHost_android.cpp b/src/ports/SkFontHost_android.cpp
index 37c922c..a3bd79c 100644
--- a/src/ports/SkFontHost_android.cpp
+++ b/src/ports/SkFontHost_android.cpp
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@
 static int32_t gUniqueFontID;
 
 // this is the mutex that protects these globals
-static SkMutex gFamilyMutex;
+SK_DECLARE_STATIC_MUTEX(gFamilyMutex);
 static FamilyRec* gFamilyHead;
 static SkTDArray<NameFamilyPair> gNameList;
 
diff --git a/src/ports/SkFontHost_fontconfig.cpp b/src/ports/SkFontHost_fontconfig.cpp
index acc5ae0..454ded3 100644
--- a/src/ports/SkFontHost_fontconfig.cpp
+++ b/src/ports/SkFontHost_fontconfig.cpp
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
 // Although truetype fonts can support multiple faces in a single file, at the
 // moment Skia doesn't.
 // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-static SkMutex global_fc_map_lock;
+SK_DECLARE_STATIC_MUTEX(global_fc_map_lock);
 static std::map<std::string, unsigned> global_fc_map;
 static std::map<unsigned, std::string> global_fc_map_inverted;
 static std::map<uint32_t, SkTypeface *> global_fc_typefaces;
diff --git a/src/ports/SkFontHost_linux.cpp b/src/ports/SkFontHost_linux.cpp
index c87b036..fa1d2ec 100644
--- a/src/ports/SkFontHost_linux.cpp
+++ b/src/ports/SkFontHost_linux.cpp
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@
 static int32_t gUniqueFontID;
 
 // this is the mutex that protects these globals
-static SkMutex gFamilyMutex;
+SK_DECLARE_STATIC_MUTEX(gFamilyMutex);
 static FamilyRec* gFamilyHead;
 static SkTDArray<NameFamilyPair> gNameList;
 
diff --git a/src/ports/SkFontHost_mac_atsui.cpp b/src/ports/SkFontHost_mac_atsui.cpp
index b90757c..ae32036 100644
--- a/src/ports/SkFontHost_mac_atsui.cpp
+++ b/src/ports/SkFontHost_mac_atsui.cpp
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 #include "SkPoint.h"
 
 const char* gDefaultfont = "Arial"; // hard code for now
-static SkMutex      gFTMutex;
+SK_DECLARE_STATIC_MUTEX(gFTMutex);
 
 static inline SkPoint F32PtToSkPoint(const Float32Point p) {
     SkPoint sp = { SkFloatToScalar(p.x), SkFloatToScalar(p.y) };
diff --git a/src/ports/SkFontHost_mac_coretext.cpp b/src/ports/SkFontHost_mac_coretext.cpp
index 3ba11a8..9c69ed7 100644
--- a/src/ports/SkFontHost_mac_coretext.cpp
+++ b/src/ports/SkFontHost_mac_coretext.cpp
@@ -450,7 +450,7 @@
 }
 
 static SkTypeface* GetDefaultFace() {
-    static SkMutex gMutex;
+    SK_DECLARE_STATIC_MUTEX(gMutex);
     SkAutoMutexAcquire ma(gMutex);
 
     static SkTypeface* gDefaultFace;
diff --git a/src/ports/SkFontHost_simple.cpp b/src/ports/SkFontHost_simple.cpp
index 0624d35..7a06b10 100644
--- a/src/ports/SkFontHost_simple.cpp
+++ b/src/ports/SkFontHost_simple.cpp
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
 static int32_t gUniqueFontID;
 
 // this is the mutex that protects these globals
-static SkMutex gFamilyMutex;
+SK_DECLARE_STATIC_MUTEX(gFamilyMutex);
 static FamilyRec* gFamilyHead;
 static SkTDArray<NameFamilyPair> gNameList;
 
diff --git a/src/ports/SkFontHost_win.cpp b/src/ports/SkFontHost_win.cpp
index 156f51c..e78bfbb 100755
--- a/src/ports/SkFontHost_win.cpp
+++ b/src/ports/SkFontHost_win.cpp
@@ -448,7 +448,7 @@
     return SkFixedToFIXED(SkFloatToFixed(x));
 }
 
-static SkMutex gFTMutex;
+SK_DECLARE_STATIC_MUTEX(gFTMutex);
 
 #define HIRES_TEXTSIZE  2048
 #define HIRES_SHIFT     11
diff --git a/src/ports/SkThread_pthread.cpp b/src/ports/SkThread_pthread.cpp
index 638e522..4750d4f 100644
--- a/src/ports/SkThread_pthread.cpp
+++ b/src/ports/SkThread_pthread.cpp
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@
 int32_t sk_atomic_dec(int32_t* addr)
 {
     SkAutoMutexAcquire ac(gAtomicMutex);
-    
+
     int32_t value = *addr;
     *addr = value - 1;
     return value;
@@ -83,6 +83,30 @@
     }
 }
 
+#ifdef SK_USE_POSIX_THREADS
+
+SkMutex::SkMutex() {
+    int status;
+
+    status = pthread_mutex_init(&fMutex, NULL);
+    if (status != 0) {
+        print_pthread_error(status);
+        SkASSERT(0 == status);
+    }
+}
+
+SkMutex::~SkMutex() {
+    int status = pthread_mutex_destroy(&fMutex);
+
+    // only report errors on non-global mutexes
+    if (status != 0) {
+        print_pthread_error(status);
+        SkASSERT(0 == status);
+    }
+}
+
+#else // !SK_USE_POSIX_THREADS
+
 SkMutex::SkMutex() {
     if (sizeof(pthread_mutex_t) > sizeof(fStorage)) {
         SkDEBUGF(("pthread mutex size = %d\n", sizeof(pthread_mutex_t)));
@@ -124,3 +148,4 @@
     SkASSERT(0 == status);
 }
 
+#endif // !SK_USE_POSIX_THREADS
diff --git a/src/views/SkEventSink.cpp b/src/views/SkEventSink.cpp
index 0b01669..20d8cdf 100644
--- a/src/views/SkEventSink.cpp
+++ b/src/views/SkEventSink.cpp
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@
 #include "SkTDict.h"
 
 #define kMinStringBufferSize    128
-static SkMutex                  gNamedSinkMutex;
+SK_DECLARE_STATIC_MUTEX(gNamedSinkMutex);
 static SkTDict<SkEventSinkID>   gNamedSinkIDs(kMinStringBufferSize);
 
 /** Register a name/id pair with the system. If the name already exists,