diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/linux_vst_gui_support.cc b/gtk2_ardour/linux_vst_gui_support.cc
index f2d287c2ea..0aded09abd 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/linux_vst_gui_support.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/linux_vst_gui_support.cc
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 #include <libgen.h>
 #include <assert.h>
 
-#include <pthread.h>
 #include <signal.h>
 #include <glib.h>
 #include <glibmm/timer.h>
@@ -42,7 +41,6 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <time.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
-#include <pthread.h>
 #include <sys/time.h>
 
 struct ERect{
@@ -319,9 +317,8 @@ any Xevents to all the UI callbacks plugins 'may' have registered on their
 windows, that is if they don't manage their own UIs **/
 
 static void*
-gui_event_loop (void* ptr)
+gui_event_loop (void*)
 {
-	pthread_set_name ("LXVSTEventLoop");
 	VSTState* vstfx;
 	int LXVST_sched_timer_interval = 40; //ms, 25fps
 	XEvent event;
@@ -509,20 +506,6 @@ int vstfx_init (void* ptr)
 	assert (gui_state == -1);
 	pthread_mutex_init (&plugin_mutex, NULL);
 
-	int thread_create_result;
-
-	pthread_attr_t thread_attributes;
-
-	/*Init the attribs to defaults*/
-
-	pthread_attr_init (&thread_attributes);
-
-	/*Make sure the thread is joinable - this should be the default anyway -
-	so we can join to it on vstfx_exit*/
-
-	pthread_attr_setdetachstate (&thread_attributes, PTHREAD_CREATE_JOINABLE);
-
-
 	/*This is where we need to open a connection to X, and start the GUI thread*/
 
 	/*Open our connection to X - all linuxVST plugin UIs handled by the LXVST engine
@@ -546,7 +529,7 @@ int vstfx_init (void* ptr)
 
 	/*Create the thread - use default attrs for now, don't think we need anything special*/
 
-	thread_create_result = pthread_create (&LXVST_gui_event_thread, &thread_attributes, gui_event_loop, NULL);
+	int thread_create_result = pthread_create_and_store ("LXVSTEventLoop", &LXVST_gui_event_thread, gui_event_loop, NULL, 0);
 
 	if (thread_create_result != 0)
 	{
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/pingback.cc b/gtk2_ardour/pingback.cc
index a1667a09d7..e0a499de3a 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/pingback.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/pingback.cc
@@ -97,7 +97,6 @@ build_query_string (ArdourCurl::HttpGet const & h)
 static void*
 _pingback (void *arg)
 {
-	pthread_set_name ("Pingback");
 	ArdourCurl::HttpGet h;
 
 	//initialize curl
@@ -177,7 +176,7 @@ void pingback (const string& version, const string& announce_path)
 	ping_call* cm = new ping_call (version, announce_path);
 	pthread_t thread;
 
-	pthread_create_and_store ("pingback", &thread, _pingback, cm);
+	pthread_create_and_store ("Pingback", &thread, _pingback, cm);
 }
 
 }
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/strip_silence_dialog.cc b/gtk2_ardour/strip_silence_dialog.cc
index 6d4fb88a45..c097839b84 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/strip_silence_dialog.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/strip_silence_dialog.cc
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ StripSilenceDialog::StripSilenceDialog (Session* s, list<RegionView*> const & v)
 	/* Create a thread which runs while the dialogue is open to compute the silence regions */
 	Completed.connect (_completed_connection, invalidator(*this), boost::bind (&StripSilenceDialog::update, this), gui_context ());
 	_thread_should_finish = false;
-	pthread_create (&_thread, 0, StripSilenceDialog::_detection_thread_work, this);
+	pthread_create_and_store ("SilenceDetect", &_thread, StripSilenceDialog::_detection_thread_work, this, 0);
 
 	signal_response().connect(sigc::mem_fun (*this, &StripSilenceDialog::finished));
 }
@@ -248,7 +248,6 @@ void *
 StripSilenceDialog::_detection_thread_work (void* arg)
 {
 	StripSilenceDialog* d = reinterpret_cast<StripSilenceDialog*> (arg);
-	pthread_set_name ("SilenceDetect");
 	return d->detection_thread_work ();
 }
 
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/video_image_frame.cc b/gtk2_ardour/video_image_frame.cc
index 33c07b1035..6bd737bf56 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/video_image_frame.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/video_image_frame.cc
@@ -274,6 +274,8 @@ VideoImageFrame::http_get (samplepos_t fn) {
 	queued_request=false;
 	req_video_frame_number=fn;
 	pthread_mutex_unlock(&queue_lock);
+	/* do not use `pbd pthread_create_and_store' here.
+	 * The request thread uses aync cancellation */
 	int rv = pthread_create(&thread_id_tt, NULL, http_get_thread, this);
 	thread_active=true;
 	if (rv) {