diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 0703866ac6..aa2c353453 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ project(hifi)
 add_definitions(-DGLM_FORCE_RADIANS)
 set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG  "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG} -DDEBUG")
 
+find_package( Threads )
+
 if (WIN32)
   add_definitions(-DNOMINMAX -D_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS)
 
diff --git a/cmake/macros/SetupHifiPlugin.cmake b/cmake/macros/SetupHifiPlugin.cmake
index 0db91cb9e6..7e56ea3db2 100644
--- a/cmake/macros/SetupHifiPlugin.cmake
+++ b/cmake/macros/SetupHifiPlugin.cmake
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ macro(SETUP_HIFI_PLUGIN)
     set(${TARGET_NAME}_SHARED 1)
     setup_hifi_library(${ARGV})
     add_dependencies(interface ${TARGET_NAME})
+    target_link_libraries(${TARGET_NAME} ${CMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT})
     set_target_properties(${TARGET_NAME} PROPERTIES FOLDER "Plugins")
 
     if (APPLE)
diff --git a/cmake/macros/SetupHifiProject.cmake b/cmake/macros/SetupHifiProject.cmake
index 8695063556..8759c949f3 100644
--- a/cmake/macros/SetupHifiProject.cmake
+++ b/cmake/macros/SetupHifiProject.cmake
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ macro(SETUP_HIFI_PROJECT)
   foreach(QT_MODULE ${${TARGET_NAME}_DEPENDENCY_QT_MODULES})
     target_link_libraries(${TARGET_NAME} Qt5::${QT_MODULE})
   endforeach()
+  target_link_libraries(${TARGET_NAME} ${CMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT})
 
   target_glm()
 
diff --git a/cmake/macros/SetupHifiTestCase.cmake b/cmake/macros/SetupHifiTestCase.cmake
index 38239d6e97..6c7d38e19c 100644
--- a/cmake/macros/SetupHifiTestCase.cmake
+++ b/cmake/macros/SetupHifiTestCase.cmake
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ macro(SETUP_HIFI_TESTCASE)
         foreach(QT_MODULE ${${TARGET_NAME}_DEPENDENCY_QT_MODULES})
           target_link_libraries(${TARGET_NAME} Qt5::${QT_MODULE})
         endforeach()
+        target_link_libraries(${TARGET_NAME} ${CMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT})
       
         set_target_properties(${TARGET_NAME} PROPERTIES FOLDER "hidden/test-executables")
         
diff --git a/tests/render-utils/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/render-utils/CMakeLists.txt
index e7e80f7726..5ec6a28b5c 100644
--- a/tests/render-utils/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/render-utils/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -7,5 +7,6 @@ set_target_properties(${TARGET_NAME} PROPERTIES FOLDER "Tests/manual-tests/")
 
 # link in the shared libraries
 link_hifi_libraries(render-utils gl gpu gpu-gl shared)
+target_link_libraries(${TARGET_NAME} ${CMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT})
 
 package_libraries_for_deployment()