diff --git a/configure b/configure
index cb0f870..e215e36 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -284,6 +284,7 @@ fi
 ar="${AR-${cross_prefix}ar}"
 as="${AS-${cross_prefix}as}"
 cpp="${CPP-$cc -E}"
+nm="${NM-${cross_prefix}nm}"
 objcopy="${OBJCOPY-${cross_prefix}objcopy}"
 ld="${LD-${cross_prefix}ld}"
 libtool="${LIBTOOL-${cross_prefix}libtool}"
@@ -3163,6 +3164,22 @@ if test "$trace_backend" = "dtrace"; then
 fi
 
 ##########################################
+# check for TLS runtime
+
+# Some versions of mingw include the "magic" definitions that make
+# TLS work, some don't.  Check for it.
+
+if test "$mingw32" = yes; then
+  cat > $TMPC << EOF
+int main(void) {}
+EOF
+  compile_prog "" ""
+  if $nm $TMPE | grep _tls_used > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+    mingw32_tls_runtime=yes
+  fi
+fi
+
+##########################################
 # check and set a backend for coroutine
 
 # We prefer ucontext, but it's not always possible. The fallback
@@ -3651,6 +3668,9 @@ if test "$mingw32" = "yes" ; then
   version_micro=0
   echo "CONFIG_FILEVERSION=$version_major,$version_minor,$version_subminor,$version_micro" >> $config_host_mak
   echo "CONFIG_PRODUCTVERSION=$version_major,$version_minor,$version_subminor,$version_micro" >> $config_host_mak
+  if test "$mingw32_tls_runtime" = yes; then
+    echo "CONFIG_MINGW32_TLS_RUNTIME=y" >> $config_host_mak
+  fi
 else
   echo "CONFIG_POSIX=y" >> $config_host_mak
 fi
@@ -4073,6 +4093,7 @@ echo "OBJCC=$objcc" >> $config_host_mak
 echo "AR=$ar" >> $config_host_mak
 echo "AS=$as" >> $config_host_mak
 echo "CPP=$cpp" >> $config_host_mak
+echo "NM=$nm" >> $config_host_mak
 echo "OBJCOPY=$objcopy" >> $config_host_mak
 echo "LD=$ld" >> $config_host_mak
 echo "WINDRES=$windres" >> $config_host_mak
diff --git a/include/qemu/tls.h b/include/qemu/tls.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..750ccb3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/qemu/tls.h
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+/*
+ * Abstraction layer for defining and using TLS variables
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2011, 2013 Red Hat, Inc
+ * Copyright (c) 2011 Linaro Limited
+ *
+ * Authors:
+ *  Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>
+ *  Peter Maydell <peter.maydell@linaro.org>
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of
+ * the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
+ * with this program; if not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#ifndef QEMU_TLS_H
+#define QEMU_TLS_H
+
+#if defined __linux__
+#define DECLARE_TLS(type, x)                     \
+extern __thread typeof(type) x;                  \
+                                                 \
+static inline typeof(type) *tls_get_##x(void)    \
+{                                                \
+    return &x;                                   \
+}                                                \
+                                                 \
+static inline typeof(type) *tls_alloc_##x(void)  \
+{                                                \
+    return &x;                                   \
+}                                                \
+                                                 \
+extern int dummy_##__LINE__
+
+#define DEFINE_TLS(type, x)                  \
+__thread typeof(type) x
+
+#elif defined CONFIG_POSIX
+typedef struct QEMUTLSValue {
+    pthread_key_t k;
+    pthread_once_t o;
+} QEMUTLSValue;
+
+#define DECLARE_TLS(type, x)                     \
+extern QEMUTLSValue x;                           \
+extern void init_##x(void);                      \
+                                                 \
+static inline typeof(type) *tls_get_##x(void)    \
+{                                                \
+    return pthread_getspecific(x.k);             \
+}                                                \
+                                                 \
+static inline typeof(type) *tls_alloc_##x(void)  \
+{                                                \
+    void *datum = g_malloc0(sizeof(type));       \
+    pthread_once(&x.o, init_##x);                \
+    pthread_setspecific(x.k, datum);             \
+    return datum;                                \
+}                                                \
+                                                 \
+extern int dummy_##__LINE__
+
+#define DEFINE_TLS(type, x)                  \
+void init_##x(void) {                        \
+    pthread_key_create(&x.k, g_free);        \
+}                                            \
+                                             \
+QEMUTLSValue x = { .o = PTHREAD_ONCE_INIT }
+
+#elif defined CONFIG_WIN32
+
+/* The initial contents of TLS variables are placed in the .tls section.
+ * The linker takes all section starting with ".tls$", sorts them and puts
+ * the contents in a single ".tls" section.  qemu-thread-win32.c defines
+ * special symbols in .tls$000 and .tls$ZZZ that represent the beginning
+ * and end of TLS memory.  The linker and run-time library then cooperate
+ * to copy memory between those symbols in the TLS area of new threads.
+ *
+ * _tls_index holds the number of our module.  The executable should be
+ * zero, DLLs are numbered 1 and up.  The loader fills it in for us.
+ *
+ * Thus, Teb->ThreadLocalStoragePointer[_tls_index] is the base of
+ * the TLS segment for this (thread, module) pair.  Each segment has
+ * the same layout as this module's .tls segment and is initialized
+ * with the content of the .tls segment; 0 is the _tls_start variable.
+ * So, tls_get_##x passes us the offset of the passed variable relative to
+ * _tls_start, and we return that same offset plus the base of segment.
+ */
+
+typedef struct _TEB {
+    NT_TIB NtTib;
+    void *EnvironmentPointer;
+    void *x[3];
+    char **ThreadLocalStoragePointer;
+} TEB, *PTEB;
+
+extern int _tls_index;
+extern int _tls_start;
+
+static inline void *tls_var(size_t offset)
+{
+    PTEB Teb = NtCurrentTeb();
+    return (char *)(Teb->ThreadLocalStoragePointer[_tls_index]) + offset;
+}
+
+#define DECLARE_TLS(type, x)                                         \
+extern typeof(type) tls_##x __attribute__((section(".tls$QEMU")));   \
+                                                                     \
+static inline typeof(type) *tls_get_##x(void)                        \
+{                                                                    \
+    return tls_var((ULONG_PTR)&(tls_##x) - (ULONG_PTR)&_tls_start);  \
+}                                                                    \
+                                                                     \
+static inline typeof(type) *tls_alloc_##x(void)                      \
+{                                                                    \
+    typeof(type) *addr = tls_get_##x();                              \
+    memset((void *)addr, 0, sizeof(type));                           \
+    return addr;                                                     \
+}                                                                    \
+                                                                     \
+extern int dummy_##__LINE__
+
+#define DEFINE_TLS(type, x)                                          \
+typeof(type) tls_##x __attribute__((section(".tls$QEMU")))
+
+#else
+#error No TLS abstraction available on this platform
+#endif
+
+#endif
diff --git a/tests/Makefile b/tests/Makefile
index 279d5f8..11b272e 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile
+++ b/tests/Makefile
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ check-unit-y += tests/test-xbzrle$(EXESUF)
 gcov-files-test-xbzrle-y = xbzrle.c
 check-unit-y += tests/test-cutils$(EXESUF)
 gcov-files-test-cutils-y += util/cutils.c
+check-unit-y += tests/test-tls$(EXESUF)
+gcov-files-test-tls-y +=
 check-unit-y += tests/test-mul64$(EXESUF)
 gcov-files-test-mul64-y = util/host-utils.c
 check-unit-y += tests/test-int128$(EXESUF)
@@ -102,6 +104,7 @@ tests/test-x86-cpuid$(EXESUF): tests/test-x86-cpuid.o
 tests/test-xbzrle$(EXESUF): tests/test-xbzrle.o xbzrle.o page_cache.o libqemuutil.a
 tests/test-cutils$(EXESUF): tests/test-cutils.o util/cutils.o
 tests/test-int128$(EXESUF): tests/test-int128.o
+tests/test-tls$(EXESUF): tests/test-tls.o libqemuutil.a
 
 tests/test-qapi-types.c tests/test-qapi-types.h :\
 $(SRC_PATH)/qapi-schema-test.json $(SRC_PATH)/scripts/qapi-types.py
diff --git a/tests/test-tls.c b/tests/test-tls.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..26a9ec7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-tls.c
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+/*
+ * Unit-tests for TLS wrappers
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2013 Red Hat Inc.
+ *
+ * Authors:
+ *  Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+ * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+ * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+ * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+ * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+ * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+ * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL
+ * THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+ * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+ * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+ * THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+
+#include <glib.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include "qemu-common.h"
+#include "qemu/atomic.h"
+#include "qemu/thread.h"
+#include "qemu/tls.h"
+
+DECLARE_TLS(volatile long long, cnt);
+DEFINE_TLS(volatile long long, cnt);
+
+#define NUM_THREADS 10
+
+int stop;
+
+static void *test_thread(void *arg)
+{
+    volatile long long *p_cnt = tls_alloc_cnt();
+    volatile long long **p_ret = arg;
+    long long exp = 0;
+
+    g_assert(tls_get_cnt() == p_cnt);
+    *p_ret = p_cnt;
+    g_assert(*p_cnt == 0);
+    while (atomic_mb_read(&stop) == 0) {
+        exp++;
+        (*p_cnt)++;
+        g_assert(*tls_get_cnt() == exp);
+    }
+
+    return NULL;
+}
+
+static void test_tls(void)
+{
+    volatile long long *addr[NUM_THREADS];
+    QemuThread t[NUM_THREADS];
+    int i;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < NUM_THREADS; i++) {
+        qemu_thread_create(&t[i], test_thread, &addr[i], QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+    }
+    g_usleep(1000000);
+    atomic_mb_set(&stop, 1);
+    for (i = 0; i < NUM_THREADS; i++) {
+        qemu_thread_join(&t[i]);
+    }
+    for (i = 1; i < NUM_THREADS; i++) {
+        g_assert(addr[i] != addr[i - 1]);
+    }
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+    g_test_init(&argc, &argv, NULL);
+
+    g_test_add_func("/tls", test_tls);
+    return g_test_run();
+}
diff --git a/util/qemu-thread-win32.c b/util/qemu-thread-win32.c
index 517878d..f75e404 100644
--- a/util/qemu-thread-win32.c
+++ b/util/qemu-thread-win32.c
@@ -16,6 +16,23 @@
 #include <assert.h>
 #include <limits.h>
 
+/* TLS support.  Some versions of mingw32 provide it, others do not.  */
+
+#ifndef CONFIG_MINGW32_TLS_RUNTIME
+int __attribute__((section(".tls$AAA"))) _tls_start = 0;
+int __attribute__((section(".tls$ZZZ"))) _tls_end = 0;
+int _tls_index = 0;
+
+const IMAGE_TLS_DIRECTORY _tls_used __attribute__((used, section(".rdata$T"))) = {
+ (ULONG)(ULONG_PTR) &_tls_start, /* start of tls data */
+ (ULONG)(ULONG_PTR) &_tls_end,   /* end of tls data */
+ (ULONG)(ULONG_PTR) &_tls_index, /* address of tls_index */
+ (ULONG) 0,                      /* pointer to callbacks */
+ (ULONG) 0,                      /* size of tls zero fill */
+ (ULONG) 0                       /* characteristics */
+};
+#endif
+
 static void error_exit(int err, const char *msg)
 {
     char *pstr;
