diff --git a/jdk/src/solaris/classes/sun/misc/GThreadHelper.java b/jdk/src/solaris/classes/sun/misc/GThreadHelper.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..180a5d5c1af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jdk/src/solaris/classes/sun/misc/GThreadHelper.java
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
+ *
+ * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Oracle designates this
+ * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
+ * by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
+ *
+ * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
+ * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
+ * accompanied this code).
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
+ * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
+ * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *
+ * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
+ * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
+ * questions.
+ */
+
+package sun.misc;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantLock;
+
+/**
+ * This class is used to prevent multiple calling of g_thread_init ()
+ * and gdk_thread_init ().
+ *
+ * Since version 2.24 of GLib, calling g_thread_init () multiple times is
+ * allowed, but it will crash for older versions. There are two ways to
+ * find out if g_thread_init () has been called:
+ * g_thread_get_initialized (), but it was introduced in 2.20
+ * g_thread_supported (), but it is a macro and cannot be loaded with dlsym.
+ *
+ * usage:
+ * <pre>
+ * lock();
+ * try {
+ *    if (!getAndSetInitializationNeededFlag()) {
+ *        //call to g_thread_init();
+ *        //call to gdk_thread_init();
+ *    }
+ * } finally {
+ *    unlock();
+ * }
+ * </pre>
+ */
+public final class GThreadHelper {
+
+    private static final ReentrantLock LOCK = new ReentrantLock();
+    private static boolean isGThreadInitialized = false;
+
+    /**
+     * Acquires the lock.
+     */
+    public static void lock() {
+        LOCK.lock();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Releases the lock.
+     */
+    public static void unlock() {
+        LOCK.unlock();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Gets current value of initialization flag and sets it to {@code true}.
+     * MUST be called under the lock.
+     *
+     * A return value of {@code false} indicates that the calling code
+     * should call the g_thread_init() and gdk_thread_init() functions
+     * before releasing the lock.
+     *
+     * @return {@code true} if initialization has been completed.
+     */
+    public static boolean getAndSetInitializationNeededFlag() {
+        boolean ret = isGThreadInitialized;
+        isGThreadInitialized = true;
+        return ret;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/jdk/src/solaris/native/sun/awt/awt_UNIXToolkit.c b/jdk/src/solaris/native/sun/awt/awt_UNIXToolkit.c
index c63698c5e48..1fe8cbcacba 100644
--- a/jdk/src/solaris/native/sun/awt/awt_UNIXToolkit.c
+++ b/jdk/src/solaris/native/sun/awt/awt_UNIXToolkit.c
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ JNIEXPORT jboolean JNICALL
 Java_sun_awt_UNIXToolkit_load_1gtk(JNIEnv *env, jclass klass)
 {
 #ifndef HEADLESS
-    return (jboolean)gtk2_load();
+    return (jboolean)gtk2_load(env);
 #else
     return JNI_FALSE;
 #endif /* !HEADLESS */
diff --git a/jdk/src/solaris/native/sun/awt/gtk2_interface.c b/jdk/src/solaris/native/sun/awt/gtk2_interface.c
index 43a4bcfcb08..131c8235567 100644
--- a/jdk/src/solaris/native/sun/awt/gtk2_interface.c
+++ b/jdk/src/solaris/native/sun/awt/gtk2_interface.c
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ const gint DEFAULT    = 1 << 10;
 
 static void *gtk2_libhandle = NULL;
 static void *gthread_libhandle = NULL;
-static gboolean flag_g_thread_get_initialized = FALSE;
+
 static jmp_buf j;
 
 /* Widgets */
@@ -502,7 +502,7 @@ void gtk2_file_chooser_load()
     fp_gtk_g_slist_length = dl_symbol("g_slist_length");
 }
 
-gboolean gtk2_load()
+gboolean gtk2_load(JNIEnv *env)
 {
     gboolean result;
     int i;
@@ -533,6 +533,7 @@ gboolean gtk2_load()
         }
 
         /* GLib */
+        fp_glib_check_version = dl_symbol("glib_check_version");
         fp_g_free = dl_symbol("g_free");
         fp_g_object_unref = dl_symbol("g_object_unref");
 
@@ -708,6 +709,9 @@ gboolean gtk2_load()
         /**
          * GLib thread system
          */
+        if (fp_glib_check_version(2, 20, 0) == NULL) {
+            fp_g_thread_get_initialized = dl_symbol_gthread("g_thread_get_initialized");
+        }
         fp_g_thread_init = dl_symbol_gthread("g_thread_init");
         fp_gdk_threads_init = dl_symbol("gdk_threads_init");
         fp_gdk_threads_enter = dl_symbol("gdk_threads_enter");
@@ -810,16 +814,33 @@ gboolean gtk2_load()
     io_handler = XSetIOErrorHandler(NULL);
 
     if (fp_gtk_check_version(2, 2, 0) == NULL) {
-        // Init the thread system to use GLib in a thread-safe mode
-        if (!flag_g_thread_get_initialized) {
-            flag_g_thread_get_initialized = TRUE;
+        jclass clazz = (*env)->FindClass(env, "sun/misc/GThreadHelper");
+        jmethodID mid_getAndSetInitializationNeededFlag =
+                (*env)->GetStaticMethodID(env, clazz, "getAndSetInitializationNeededFlag", "()Z");
+        jmethodID mid_lock = (*env)->GetStaticMethodID(env, clazz, "lock", "()V");
+        jmethodID mid_unlock = (*env)->GetStaticMethodID(env, clazz, "unlock", "()V");
 
-            fp_g_thread_init(NULL);
+        // Init the thread system to use GLib in a thread-safe mode
+        (*env)->CallStaticVoidMethod(env, clazz, mid_lock);
+
+        // Calling g_thread_init() multiple times leads to crash on GLib < 2.24
+        // We can use g_thread_get_initialized () but it is available only for
+        // GLib >= 2.20. We rely on GThreadHelper for GLib < 2.20.
+        gboolean is_g_thread_get_initialized = FALSE;
+        if (fp_glib_check_version(2, 20, 0) == NULL) {
+            is_g_thread_get_initialized = fp_g_thread_get_initialized();
+        }
+
+        if (!(*env)->CallStaticBooleanMethod(env, clazz, mid_getAndSetInitializationNeededFlag)) {
+            if (!is_g_thread_get_initialized) {
+                fp_g_thread_init(NULL);
+            }
 
             //According the GTK documentation, gdk_threads_init() should be
             //called before gtk_init() or gtk_init_check()
             fp_gdk_threads_init();
         }
+        (*env)->CallStaticVoidMethod(env, clazz, mid_unlock);
     }
     result = (*fp_gtk_init_check)(NULL, NULL);
 
diff --git a/jdk/src/solaris/native/sun/awt/gtk2_interface.h b/jdk/src/solaris/native/sun/awt/gtk2_interface.h
index 22ba24a49ae..c8fe4536044 100644
--- a/jdk/src/solaris/native/sun/awt/gtk2_interface.h
+++ b/jdk/src/solaris/native/sun/awt/gtk2_interface.h
@@ -643,6 +643,14 @@ typedef struct _GThreadFunctions GThreadFunctions;
  */
 const char *getStrFor(JNIEnv *env, jstring value);
 
+/**
+ * Returns :
+ * NULL if the GLib library is compatible with the given version, or a string
+ * describing the version mismatch.
+ */
+gchar* (*fp_glib_check_version)(guint required_major, guint required_minor,
+                       guint required_micro);
+
 /*
  * Check whether the gtk2 library is available and meets the minimum
  * version requirement.  If the library is already loaded this method has no
@@ -663,7 +671,7 @@ gchar* (*fp_gtk_check_version)(guint required_major, guint required_minor,
  * effect and returns success.
  * Returns FALSE on failure and TRUE on success.
  */
-gboolean gtk2_load();
+gboolean gtk2_load(JNIEnv *env);
 
 /*
  * Loads fp_gtk_show_uri function pointer. This initialization is
@@ -801,6 +809,12 @@ void (*fp_gtk_main)(void);
 guint (*fp_gtk_main_level)(void);
 
 
+/**
+ * This function is available for GLIB > 2.20, so it MUST be
+ * called within (fp_glib_check_version(2, 20, 0) == NULL) check.
+ */
+gboolean (*fp_g_thread_get_initialized)(void);
+
 void (*fp_g_thread_init)(GThreadFunctions *vtable);
 void (*fp_gdk_threads_init)(void);
 void (*fp_gdk_threads_enter)(void);
diff --git a/jdk/src/solaris/native/sun/xawt/awt_Desktop.c b/jdk/src/solaris/native/sun/xawt/awt_Desktop.c
index 317af3dfaa2..55c76909635 100644
--- a/jdk/src/solaris/native/sun/xawt/awt_Desktop.c
+++ b/jdk/src/solaris/native/sun/xawt/awt_Desktop.c
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ JNIEXPORT jboolean JNICALL Java_sun_awt_X11_XDesktopPeer_init
         return JNI_TRUE;
     }
 
-    if (gtk2_load() && gtk2_show_uri_load()) {
+    if (gtk2_load(env) && gtk2_show_uri_load()) {
         gtk_has_been_loaded = TRUE;
         return JNI_TRUE;
     } else if (gnome_load()) {