diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 0335446da..b90e5af31 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -176,6 +176,11 @@ PKG_CHECK_MODULES(GIO, gio-2.0 >= $GLIB_REQUIRED_VERSION)
 AC_SUBST(GIO_CFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(GIO_LIBS)
 
+PKG_CHECK_MODULES(GLIB_2_31,
+	glib-2.0 >= 2.31,
+	HAVE_GLIB_2_31_OR_HIGHER=yes, HAVE_GLIB_2_31_OR_HIGHER=no)
+AM_CONDITIONAL(DISABLE_GTHREAD_CHECK, test "x$HAVE_GLIB_2_31_OR_HIGHER" = "xyes")
+
 PKG_CHECK_MODULES(PANGO, pango)
 AC_SUBST(PANGO_CFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(PANGO_LIBS)
diff --git a/glib/Makefile.am b/glib/Makefile.am
index d10c3ba20..c1f82f4b8 100644
--- a/glib/Makefile.am
+++ b/glib/Makefile.am
@@ -81,9 +81,15 @@ EXTRA_DIST =				\
 	glib-sharp-3.0.pc.in		\
 	glib-api.xml
 
+if DISABLE_GTHREAD_CHECK
+BUILD_DEFINES=-define:DISABLE_GTHREAD_CHECK
+else
+BUILD_DEFINES=
+endif
+
 $(ASSEMBLY): $(build_sources) $(SNK)
 	@rm -f $(ASSEMBLY).mdb
-	$(CSC) $(CSFLAGS) -keyfile:$(SNK) -unsafe -out:$(ASSEMBLY) -target:library $(references) $(build_sources)
+	$(CSC) $(CSFLAGS) -keyfile:$(SNK) -unsafe -out:$(ASSEMBLY) -target:library $(references) $(build_sources) $(BUILD_DEFINES)
 
 policy.%.config: $(top_builddir)/policy.config
 	sed -e "s/@ASSEMBLY_NAME@/$(ASSEMBLY_NAME)/" -e "s/@POLICY@/$*/" $(top_builddir)/policy.config > $@
diff --git a/glib/Thread.cs b/glib/Thread.cs
index 7ce2ce21a..249dd048e 100644
--- a/glib/Thread.cs
+++ b/glib/Thread.cs
@@ -28,6 +28,18 @@ namespace GLib
 	{
 		private Thread () {}
 		
+#if DISABLE_GTHREAD_CHECK
+		public static void Init ()
+		{
+			// GLib automatically inits threads in 2.31 and above
+			// http://developer.gnome.org/glib/unstable/glib-Deprecated-Thread-APIs.html#g-thread-init
+		}
+
+		public static bool Supported
+		{
+			get { return true; }
+		}
+#else
 		[DllImport ("libgthread-2.0-0.dll", CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
 		static extern void g_thread_init (IntPtr i);
 
@@ -45,5 +57,7 @@ namespace GLib
 				return g_thread_get_initialized ();
 			}
 		}
+#endif
+
 	}
 }