diff --git a/src/AppendTask.cpp b/src/AppendTask.cpp
index 947c70524..063999282 100644
--- a/src/AppendTask.cpp
+++ b/src/AppendTask.cpp
@@ -6,8 +6,6 @@
 
 using namespace std;
 
-extern storagemanager::IOCoordinator *ioc;
-
 namespace storagemanager
 {
 
diff --git a/src/IOCoordinator.cpp b/src/IOCoordinator.cpp
index 5982010e7..e1587dad8 100644
--- a/src/IOCoordinator.cpp
+++ b/src/IOCoordinator.cpp
@@ -10,6 +10,12 @@
 
 using namespace std;
 
+namespace
+{
+    storagemanager::IOCoordinator *ioc = NULL;
+    boost::mutex m;
+}
+
 namespace storagemanager
 {
 
@@ -21,6 +27,17 @@ IOCoordinator::~IOCoordinator()
 {
 }
 
+IOCoordinator * IOCoordinator::get()
+{
+    if (ioc)
+        return ioc;
+    boost::mutex::scoped_lock s(m);
+    if (ioc)
+        return ioc;
+    ioc = new IOCoordinator();
+    return ioc;
+}
+
 void IOCoordinator::willRead(const char *, off_t, size_t)
 {
     // no cache yet
diff --git a/src/IOCoordinator.h b/src/IOCoordinator.h
index 1be3a2a30..bb73aafba 100644
--- a/src/IOCoordinator.h
+++ b/src/IOCoordinator.h
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include <vector>
 #include <string>
 #include <boost/utility.hpp>
+#include <boost/thread/mutex.hpp>
 
 namespace storagemanager
 {
@@ -15,7 +16,7 @@ namespace storagemanager
 class IOCoordinator : public boost::noncopyable
 {
     public:
-        IOCoordinator();
+        static IOCoordinator *get();
         virtual ~IOCoordinator();
 
         void willRead(const char *filename, off_t offset, size_t length);
@@ -27,6 +28,9 @@ class IOCoordinator : public boost::noncopyable
         int stat(const char *path, struct stat *out);
         int truncate(const char *path, size_t newsize);
         int unlink(const char *path);
+        
+    private:
+        IOCoordinator();
 };
 
 }
diff --git a/src/ListDirectoryTask.cpp b/src/ListDirectoryTask.cpp
index 4c7a6aa5d..a6eb50ff7 100644
--- a/src/ListDirectoryTask.cpp
+++ b/src/ListDirectoryTask.cpp
@@ -8,8 +8,6 @@
 
 using namespace std;
 
-extern storagemanager::IOCoordinator *ioc;
-
 namespace storagemanager
 {
 
diff --git a/src/OpenTask.cpp b/src/OpenTask.cpp
index cf2f9e773..e59f12ece 100644
--- a/src/OpenTask.cpp
+++ b/src/OpenTask.cpp
@@ -9,8 +9,6 @@
 
 using namespace std;
 
-extern storagemanager::IOCoordinator *ioc;
-
 namespace storagemanager
 {
 
diff --git a/src/PosixTask.cpp b/src/PosixTask.cpp
index 6a95d6000..b5479c16e 100644
--- a/src/PosixTask.cpp
+++ b/src/PosixTask.cpp
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ PosixTask::PosixTask(int _sock, uint _length) :
     bufferLen(0),
     socketReturned(false)
 {
+    ioc = IOCoordinator::get();
 }
 
 PosixTask::~PosixTask()
diff --git a/src/PosixTask.h b/src/PosixTask.h
index 53af31904..b406968ef 100644
--- a/src/PosixTask.h
+++ b/src/PosixTask.h
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include <vector>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
+#include "IOCoordinator.h"
 
 namespace storagemanager
 {
@@ -30,6 +31,8 @@ class PosixTask
         void returnSocket();
         void socketError();
         
+        IOCoordinator *ioc;
+        
     private:
         PosixTask();
         
diff --git a/src/ReadTask.cpp b/src/ReadTask.cpp
index cb364ccd7..e6b291e99 100644
--- a/src/ReadTask.cpp
+++ b/src/ReadTask.cpp
@@ -6,8 +6,6 @@
 
 using namespace std;
 
-extern storagemanager::IOCoordinator *ioc;
-
 namespace storagemanager
 {
 
diff --git a/src/StatTask.cpp b/src/StatTask.cpp
index 57d74a07f..a8724ef7c 100644
--- a/src/StatTask.cpp
+++ b/src/StatTask.cpp
@@ -10,8 +10,6 @@
 
 using namespace std;
 
-extern storagemanager::IOCoordinator *ioc;
-
 namespace storagemanager
 {
 
diff --git a/src/TruncateTask.cpp b/src/TruncateTask.cpp
index bbd43474a..c8077bf06 100644
--- a/src/TruncateTask.cpp
+++ b/src/TruncateTask.cpp
@@ -6,8 +6,6 @@
 
 using namespace std;
 
-extern storagemanager::IOCoordinator *ioc;
-
 namespace storagemanager
 {
 
diff --git a/src/UnlinkTask.cpp b/src/UnlinkTask.cpp
index b21712bff..ff1446517 100644
--- a/src/UnlinkTask.cpp
+++ b/src/UnlinkTask.cpp
@@ -6,8 +6,6 @@
 
 using namespace std;
 
-extern storagemanager::IOCoordinator *ioc;
-
 namespace storagemanager
 {
 
diff --git a/src/WriteTask.cpp b/src/WriteTask.cpp
index d0ba240a3..878e2a4fb 100644
--- a/src/WriteTask.cpp
+++ b/src/WriteTask.cpp
@@ -6,8 +6,6 @@
 
 using namespace std;
 
-extern storagemanager::IOCoordinator *ioc;
-
 namespace storagemanager
 {
 
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index fd1fe8de6..4caed938c 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -10,17 +10,13 @@
 using namespace std;
 
 #include "SessionManager.h"
-#include "IOCoordinator.h"
 
 using namespace storagemanager;
 
-IOCoordinator *ioc;
-
 int main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
     int ret = 0;
     SessionManager sessionManager = SessionManager();
-    ioc = new IOCoordinator();
 
     ret = sessionManager.start();
 
diff --git a/src/unit_tests.cpp b/src/unit_tests.cpp
index 111a68c6e..575ec98ce 100644
--- a/src/unit_tests.cpp
+++ b/src/unit_tests.cpp
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 #include "TruncateTask.h"
 #include "ListDirectoryTask.h"
 #include "PingTask.h"
-#include "IOCoordinator.h"
 #include "messageFormat.h"
 #include <iostream>
 #include <stdlib.h>
@@ -26,8 +25,6 @@
 using namespace storagemanager;
 using namespace std;
 
-IOCoordinator *ioc;
-
 struct scoped_closer {
     scoped_closer(int f) : fd(f) { }
     ~scoped_closer() { 
@@ -403,7 +400,6 @@ bool pingtask()
 
 int main()
 {
-    ioc = new IOCoordinator();
     cout << "connecting" << endl;
     makeConnection();
     cout << "connected" << endl;