diff --git a/src/common/init.c b/src/common/init.c
index 7f986818e..962bde9fe 100644
--- a/src/common/init.c
+++ b/src/common/init.c
@@ -305,13 +305,13 @@ FF_THREAD_ENTRY_DECL_WRAPPER(ffDetectGTK4, FFinstance*)
 void startDetectionThreads(FFinstance* instance)
 {
     #ifdef FF_HAVE_THREADS
-    ffThreadCreateAndDetach(ffConnectDisplayServerThreadMain, instance);
+    ffThreadDetach(ffThreadCreate(ffConnectDisplayServerThreadMain, instance));
 
     #ifdef FF_DETECT_QT_GTK
-    ffThreadCreateAndDetach(ffDetectQtThreadMain, instance);
-    ffThreadCreateAndDetach(ffDetectGTK2ThreadMain, instance);
-    ffThreadCreateAndDetach(ffDetectGTK3ThreadMain, instance);
-    ffThreadCreateAndDetach(ffDetectGTK4ThreadMain, instance);
+    ffThreadDetach(ffThreadCreate(ffDetectQtThreadMain, instance));
+    ffThreadDetach(ffThreadCreate(ffDetectGTK2ThreadMain, instance));
+    ffThreadDetach(ffThreadCreate(ffDetectGTK3ThreadMain, instance));
+    ffThreadDetach(ffThreadCreate(ffDetectGTK4ThreadMain, instance));
     #endif
 
     #else
diff --git a/src/common/thread.h b/src/common/thread.h
index 035ff9350..74c536cf2 100644
--- a/src/common/thread.h
+++ b/src/common/thread.h
@@ -9,35 +9,40 @@
     #if defined(_WIN32)
         #include <handleapi.h>
         #include <synchapi.h>
-        #include <process.h> // Win32 <process.h> isn't available on MSYS2
+        #include <process.h>
         #define FF_THREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER SRWLOCK_INIT
         typedef SRWLOCK FFThreadMutex;
+        typedef HANDLE FFThreadType;
         static inline void ffThreadMutexLock(FFThreadMutex* mutex) { AcquireSRWLockExclusive(mutex); }
         static inline void ffThreadMutexUnlock(FFThreadMutex* mutex) { ReleaseSRWLockExclusive(mutex); }
-        static inline void ffThreadCreateAndDetach(unsigned (__stdcall* func)(void*), void* data) {
-            uintptr_t newThread = _beginthreadex(NULL, 0, func, data, 0, NULL);
-            if(newThread)
-                CloseHandle((HANDLE)newThread);
+        static inline FFThreadType ffThreadCreate(unsigned (__stdcall* func)(void*), void* data) {
+            return (FFThreadType)_beginthreadex(NULL, 0, func, data, 0, NULL);
         }
         #define FF_THREAD_ENTRY_DECL_WRAPPER(fn, paramType) static __stdcall unsigned fn ## ThreadMain (void* data) { fn((paramType)data); return 0; }
+        static inline void ffThreadDetach(FFThreadType thread) { CloseHandle(thread); }
+        static inline void ffThreadJoin(FFThreadType thread) { WaitForSingleObject(thread, INFINITE); }
     #else
         #include <pthread.h>
         #define FF_THREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER
         typedef pthread_mutex_t FFThreadMutex;
+        typedef pthread_t FFThreadType;
         static inline void ffThreadMutexLock(FFThreadMutex* mutex) { pthread_mutex_lock(mutex); }
         static inline void ffThreadMutexUnlock(FFThreadMutex* mutex) { pthread_mutex_unlock(mutex); }
-        static inline void ffThreadCreateAndDetach(void* (* func)(void*), void* data) {
-            pthread_t newThread;
-            if(pthread_create(&newThread, NULL, func, data) == 0)
-                pthread_detach(newThread);
+        static inline FFThreadType ffThreadCreate(void* (* func)(void*), void* data) {
+            FFThreadType newThread = NULL;
+            pthread_create(&newThread, NULL, func, data);
+            return newThread;
         }
         #define FF_THREAD_ENTRY_DECL_WRAPPER(fn, paramType) static void* fn ## ThreadMain (void* data) { fn((paramType)data); return NULL; }
+        static inline void ffThreadDetach(FFThreadType thread) { pthread_detach(thread); }
+        static inline void ffThreadJoin(FFThreadType thread) { pthread_join(thread, NULL); }
     #endif
 #else //FF_HAVE_THREADS
     #define FF_THREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER 0
     typedef char FFThreadMutex;
     static inline void ffThreadMutexLock(FFThreadMutex* mutex) { FF_UNUSED(mutex) }
     static inline void ffThreadMutexUnlock(FFThreadMutex* mutex) { FF_UNUSED(mutex) }
+    #define FF_THREAD_ENTRY_DECL_WRAPPER(fn, paramType)
 #endif //FF_HAVE_THREADS
 
 #endif