diff --git a/.CMake/compiler_opts.cmake b/.CMake/compiler_opts.cmake
index 33fd2c24db..a958906917 100644
--- a/.CMake/compiler_opts.cmake
+++ b/.CMake/compiler_opts.cmake
@@ -106,6 +106,9 @@ if(CMAKE_C_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
 
     set(THREADS_PREFER_PTHREAD_FLAG ON)
     find_package(Threads)
+    if (CMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT AND OQS_EMBEDDED_BUILD)
+        set(OQS_USE_PTHREADS ON)
+    endif()
 
     if(${OQS_DEBUG_BUILD})
         add_compile_options(-g3)
@@ -165,6 +168,9 @@ elseif(CMAKE_C_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "GNU")
 
     set(THREADS_PREFER_PTHREAD_FLAG ON)
     find_package(Threads)
+    if (CMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT AND OQS_EMBEDDED_BUILD)
+        set(OQS_USE_PTHREADS ON)
+    endif()
 
     if(${OQS_DEBUG_BUILD})
         add_compile_options (-Wstrict-overflow)
diff --git a/src/common/CMakeLists.txt b/src/common/CMakeLists.txt
index 2c49f115b1..5e53e77484 100644
--- a/src/common/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/common/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ else()
         target_compile_definitions(common PRIVATE OQS_HAVE_GETENTROPY)
     endif()
 endif()
-if(CMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT)
+if(OQS_USE_PTHREADS)
     target_link_libraries(common PRIVATE Threads::Threads)
 endif()
 
diff --git a/src/common/sha3/xkcp_sha3.c b/src/common/sha3/xkcp_sha3.c
index 0cc425458c..e9192862ef 100644
--- a/src/common/sha3/xkcp_sha3.c
+++ b/src/common/sha3/xkcp_sha3.c
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 
 #include <oqs/common.h>
 
-#if CMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT
+#if OQS_USE_PTHREADS
 #include <pthread.h>
 #endif
 #include <stddef.h>
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
 #define KECCAK_CTX_BYTES (KECCAK_CTX_ALIGNMENT * \
   ((_KECCAK_CTX_BYTES + KECCAK_CTX_ALIGNMENT - 1)/KECCAK_CTX_ALIGNMENT))
 
-#if CMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT
+#if OQS_USE_PTHREADS
 static pthread_once_t dispatch_once_control = PTHREAD_ONCE_INIT;
 #endif
 
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ static void Keccak_Dispatch(void) {
  *                that have not been permuted, or not-yet-squeezed bytes.
  **************************************************/
 static void keccak_inc_reset(uint64_t *s) {
-#if CMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT
+#if OQS_USE_PTHREADS
 	pthread_once(&dispatch_once_control, Keccak_Dispatch);
 #else
 	if (Keccak_Initialize_ptr == NULL) {
diff --git a/src/common/sha3/xkcp_sha3x4.c b/src/common/sha3/xkcp_sha3x4.c
index 762a11adce..fbd9a0e8c5 100644
--- a/src/common/sha3/xkcp_sha3x4.c
+++ b/src/common/sha3/xkcp_sha3x4.c
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 #include <oqs/common.h>
 #include <oqs/oqsconfig.h>
 
-#if CMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT
+#if OQS_USE_PTHREADS
 #include <pthread.h>
 #endif
 #include <stddef.h>
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 #define KECCAK_X4_CTX_BYTES (KECCAK_X4_CTX_ALIGNMENT * \
   ((_KECCAK_X4_CTX_BYTES + KECCAK_X4_CTX_ALIGNMENT - 1)/KECCAK_X4_CTX_ALIGNMENT))
 
-#if CMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT
+#if OQS_USE_PTHREADS
 static pthread_once_t dispatch_once_control = PTHREAD_ONCE_INIT;
 #endif
 
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ static void Keccak_X4_Dispatch(void) {
 }
 
 static void keccak_x4_inc_reset(uint64_t *s) {
-#if CMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT
+#if OQS_USE_PTHREADS
 	pthread_once(&dispatch_once_control, Keccak_X4_Dispatch);
 #else
 	if (Keccak_X4_Initialize_ptr == NULL) {
diff --git a/src/oqsconfig.h.cmake b/src/oqsconfig.h.cmake
index e664c274b6..8fba8a160f 100644
--- a/src/oqsconfig.h.cmake
+++ b/src/oqsconfig.h.cmake
@@ -18,8 +18,6 @@
 #cmakedefine USE_SANITIZER "@USE_SANITIZER@"
 #cmakedefine CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE "@CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE@"
 
-#cmakedefine CMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT 1
-
 #cmakedefine OQS_USE_OPENSSL 1
 #cmakedefine OQS_USE_AES_OPENSSL 1
 #cmakedefine OQS_USE_SHA2_OPENSSL 1
@@ -27,6 +25,8 @@
 
 #cmakedefine OQS_EMBEDDED_BUILD 1
 
+#cmakedefine OQS_USE_PTHREADS 1
+
 #cmakedefine OQS_USE_ADX_INSTRUCTIONS 1
 #cmakedefine OQS_USE_AES_INSTRUCTIONS 1
 #cmakedefine OQS_USE_AVX_INSTRUCTIONS 1
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index 05fb20a074..3d71d206c3 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ if(NOT WIN32)
     else()
         set(INTERNAL_TEST_DEPS ${LIBM})
     endif()
-    if(CMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT)
+    if(OQS_USE_PTHREADS)
         set(INTERNAL_TEST_DEPS ${INTERNAL_TEST_DEPS} Threads::Threads)
     endif()
     if(DEFINED SANITIZER_LD_FLAGS)
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ else()
 endif()
 
 set(API_TEST_DEPS oqs ${LIBM})
-if(CMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT)
+if(OQS_USE_PTHREADS)
     set(API_TEST_DEPS ${API_TEST_DEPS} Threads::Threads)
 endif()
 
diff --git a/tests/test_kem.c b/tests/test_kem.c
index 07ff68e79e..b7c7baad85 100644
--- a/tests/test_kem.c
+++ b/tests/test_kem.c
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 #include <oqs/oqs.h>
 
-#if CMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT
+#if OQS_USE_PTHREADS
 #include <pthread.h>
 #endif
 
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ static void TEST_KEM_randombytes(uint8_t *random_array, size_t bytes_to_read) {
 }
 #endif
 
-#if CMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT
+#if OQS_USE_PTHREADS
 struct thread_data {
 	char *alg_name;
 	OQS_STATUS rc;
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 #endif
 
 	OQS_STATUS rc;
-#if CMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT
+#if OQS_USE_PTHREADS
 #define MAX_LEN_KEM_NAME_ 64
 	// don't run Classic McEliece in threads because of large stack usage
 	char no_thread_kem_patterns[][MAX_LEN_KEM_NAME_]  = {"Classic-McEliece", "HQC-256-"};
diff --git a/tests/test_sig.c b/tests/test_sig.c
index 831e54e272..eb3ab0af12 100644
--- a/tests/test_sig.c
+++ b/tests/test_sig.c
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 #include <oqs/oqs.h>
 
-#if CMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT
+#if OQS_USE_PTHREADS
 #include <pthread.h>
 #endif
 
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ static void TEST_SIG_randombytes(uint8_t *random_array, size_t bytes_to_read) {
 }
 #endif
 
-#if CMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT
+#if OQS_USE_PTHREADS
 struct thread_data {
 	char *alg_name;
 	OQS_STATUS rc;
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 #endif
 
 	OQS_STATUS rc;
-#if CMAKE_USE_PTHREADS_INIT
+#if OQS_USE_PTHREADS
 #define MAX_LEN_SIG_NAME_ 64
 	pthread_t thread;
 	struct thread_data td;