diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index b840bce9..11d8b97e 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -4549,7 +4549,7 @@ select_cgpu:
 		thr->rolling = thr->cgpu->rolling = 0;
 		/* Reports the last time we tried to revive a sick GPU */
 		gettimeofday(&thr->sick, NULL);
-		if (thr->pth && !pthread_cancel(*thr->pth)) {
+		if (!pthread_cancel(thr->pth)) {
 			applog(LOG_WARNING, "Thread %d still exists, killing it off", thr_id);
 		} else
 			applog(LOG_WARNING, "Thread %d no longer exists", thr_id);
@@ -5349,7 +5349,7 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[])
 	/* start stage thread */
 	if (thr_info_create(thr, NULL, stage_thread, thr))
 		quit(1, "stage thread create failed");
-	pthread_detach(*thr->pth);
+	pthread_detach(thr->pth);
 
 	/* Create a unique get work queue */
 	getq = tq_new();
@@ -5525,7 +5525,7 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[])
 	thr = &thr_info[input_thr_id];
 	if (thr_info_create(thr, NULL, input_thread, thr))
 		quit(1, "input thread create failed");
-	pthread_detach(*thr->pth);
+	pthread_detach(thr->pth);
 
 	/* Create reinit cpu thread */
 	cpur_thr_id = mining_threads + 5;
@@ -5546,7 +5546,7 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[])
 		quit(1, "reinit_gpu thread create failed");
 
 	/* main loop - simply wait for workio thread to exit */
-	pthread_join(*thr_info[work_thr_id].pth, NULL);
+	pthread_join(thr_info[work_thr_id].pth, NULL);
 	applog(LOG_INFO, "workio thread dead, exiting.");
 
 	gettimeofday(&total_tv_end, NULL);
diff --git a/miner.h b/miner.h
index 75c53cef..d272cb21 100644
--- a/miner.h
+++ b/miner.h
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ struct thread_q {
 
 struct thr_info {
 	int		id;
-	pthread_t	*pth;
+	pthread_t	pth;
 	struct thread_q	*q;
 	struct cgpu_info *cgpu;
 	struct timeval last;
diff --git a/util.c b/util.c
index aca9e812..1f364501 100644
--- a/util.c
+++ b/util.c
@@ -655,21 +655,9 @@ out:
 
 int thr_info_create(struct thr_info *thr, pthread_attr_t *attr, void *(*start) (void *), void *arg)
 {
-	int ret = -1;
-
-	thr->pth = malloc(sizeof(pthread_t));
-	if (unlikely(!thr->pth)) {
-		applog(LOG_ERR, "Failed to malloc in thr_info_create");
-		return ret;
-	}
-
-	ret = pthread_create(thr->pth, attr, start, arg);
-	if (unlikely(ret)) {
-		applog(LOG_ERR, "Failed to pthread_create in thr_info_create");
-		free(thr->pth);
-		thr->pth = NULL;
-	}
+	int ret;
 
+	ret = pthread_create(&thr->pth, attr, start, arg);
 	return ret;
 }
 
@@ -680,10 +668,6 @@ void thr_info_cancel(struct thr_info *thr)
 
 	if (thr->q)
 		tq_freeze(thr->q);
-	if (thr->pth) {
-		if (pthread_cancel(*thr->pth))
-			pthread_join(*thr->pth, NULL);
-		free(thr->pth);
-		thr->pth = NULL;
-	}
+	if (pthread_cancel(thr->pth))
+		pthread_join(thr->pth, NULL);
 }