diff --git a/src/framework/CMakeLists.txt b/src/framework/CMakeLists.txt
index 5829320c..310e30e6 100644
--- a/src/framework/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/framework/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -281,6 +281,10 @@ else()
     set(framework_LIBRARIES ${framework_LIBRARIES} ${SYSTEM_LIBRARIES})
 endif()
 
+if(FRAMEWORK_THREAD_SAFE)
+    set(framework_DEFINITIONS ${framework_DEFINITIONS} -DTHREAD_SAFE)
+endif()
+
 if(FRAMEWORK_GRAPHICS)
     set(OPENGLES "OFF" CACHE "Use OpenGL ES 1.0 or 2.0 (for mobiles devices)" STRING)
     if(OPENGLES STREQUAL "2.0")
diff --git a/src/framework/stdext/shared_object.h b/src/framework/stdext/shared_object.h
index ad47eda4..016a512c 100644
--- a/src/framework/stdext/shared_object.h
+++ b/src/framework/stdext/shared_object.h
@@ -28,12 +28,16 @@
 #include <cassert>
 #include <ostream>
 
+#ifdef THREAD_SAFE
+#include <atomic>
+#endif
+
 namespace stdext {
 
 template<class T>
 class shared_object_ptr;
 
-typedef unsigned int refcount_t;
+typedef unsigned long refcount_t;
 
 class shared_object
 {
@@ -49,7 +53,11 @@ public:
     template<typename T> stdext::shared_object_ptr<T> const_self_cast() { return stdext::shared_object_ptr<T>(const_cast<T*>(this)); }
 
 private:
+#ifdef THREAD_SAFE
+    std::atomic<refcount_t> m_refs;
+#else
     refcount_t m_refs;
+#endif
 };
 
 template<class T>