diff --git a/globals.c b/globals.c
index 1147e63f..ce689f50 100644
--- a/globals.c
+++ b/globals.c
@@ -806,6 +806,31 @@ xmlNewGlobalState(void)
 }
 #endif /* LIBXML_THREAD_ENABLED */
 
+/**
+ * xmlCheckThreadLocalStorage:
+ *
+ * Check whether thread-local storage could be allocated.
+ *
+ * In multithreaded environments, this function should be called once
+ * in each thread before calling other library functions to make sure
+ * that thread-local storage was allocated properly.
+ *
+ * Returns 0 on success or -1 if a memory allocation failed. A failed
+ * allocation signals a typically fatal and irrecoverable out-of-memory
+ * situation. Don't call any library functions in this case.
+ *
+ * This function never fails for the "main" thread which is the first
+ * thread calling xmlInitParser.
+ *
+ * Available since v2.12.0.
+ */
+int
+xmlCheckThreadLocalStorage(void) {
+    if (IS_MAIN_THREAD)
+        return(0);
+    return((xmlGetGlobalState() == NULL) ? -1 : 0);
+}
+
 /**
  * xmlGetGlobalState:
  *
diff --git a/include/libxml/globals.h b/include/libxml/globals.h
index 1cc8477b..ddc9e9fe 100644
--- a/include/libxml/globals.h
+++ b/include/libxml/globals.h
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ typedef void (*xmlDeregisterNodeFunc) (xmlNodePtr node);
 typedef struct _xmlGlobalState xmlGlobalState;
 typedef xmlGlobalState *xmlGlobalStatePtr;
 
+XMLPUBFUN int xmlCheckThreadLocalStorage(void);
 XML_DEPRECATED
 XMLPUBFUN void	xmlInitializeGlobalState(xmlGlobalStatePtr gs);
 XML_DEPRECATED
diff --git a/testThreads.c b/testThreads.c
index d1535944..58b161bb 100644
--- a/testThreads.c
+++ b/testThreads.c
@@ -3,10 +3,11 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 
-#if defined(LIBXML_THREAD_ENABLED) && defined(LIBXML_CATALOG_ENABLED)
-#include <libxml/globals.h>
-#include <libxml/threads.h>
 #include <libxml/parser.h>
+#include <libxml/threads.h>
+#include <libxml/globals.h>
+
+#if defined(LIBXML_THREAD_ENABLED) && defined(LIBXML_CATALOG_ENABLED)
 #include <libxml/catalog.h>
 #ifdef HAVE_PTHREAD_H
 #include <pthread.h>
@@ -57,6 +58,12 @@ thread_specific_data(void *private_data)
     const char *filename = params->filename;
     int okay = 1;
 
+    if (xmlCheckThreadLocalStorage() != 0) {
+        printf("xmlCheckThreadLocalStorage failed\n");
+        params->okay = 0;
+        return(NULL);
+    }
+
     if (!strcmp(filename, "test/threads/invalid.xml")) {
         xmlDoValidityCheckingDefaultValue = 0;
         xmlGenericErrorContext = stdout;
@@ -98,17 +105,39 @@ thread_specific_data(void *private_data)
     return(NULL);
 }
 
-#ifdef HAVE_PTHREAD_H
+#ifdef _WIN32
+static DWORD WINAPI
+win32_thread_specific_data(void *private_data)
+{
+    thread_specific_data(private_data);
+    return(0);
+}
+#endif
+#endif /* LIBXML_THREADS_ENABLED */
+
 int
 main(void)
 {
-    unsigned int i, repeat;
-    int ret;
+    unsigned int repeat;
+    int status = 0;
+
+    (void) repeat;
 
     xmlInitParser();
+
+    if (xmlCheckThreadLocalStorage() != 0) {
+        printf("xmlCheckThreadLocalStorage failed for main thread\n");
+        return(1);
+    }
+
+#if defined(LIBXML_THREAD_ENABLED) && defined(LIBXML_CATALOG_ENABLED)
     for (repeat = 0;repeat < TEST_REPEAT_COUNT;repeat++) {
+        unsigned int i;
+        int ret;
+
 	xmlLoadCatalog(catalog);
 
+#ifdef HAVE_PTHREAD_H
         memset(tid, 0xff, sizeof(*tid)*num_threads);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < num_threads; i++) {
@@ -127,35 +156,7 @@ main(void)
 		exit(1);
 	    }
 	}
-
-	xmlCatalogCleanup();
-	for (i = 0; i < num_threads; i++)
-	    if (threadParams[i].okay == 0)
-		printf("Thread %d handling %s failed\n", i,
-                       threadParams[i].filename);
-    }
-    xmlCleanupParser();
-    return (0);
-}
 #elif defined(_WIN32)
-static DWORD WINAPI
-win32_thread_specific_data(void *private_data)
-{
-    thread_specific_data(private_data);
-    return(0);
-}
-
-int
-main(void)
-{
-    unsigned int i, repeat;
-    BOOL ret;
-
-    xmlInitParser();
-    for (repeat = 0;repeat < TEST_REPEAT_COUNT;repeat++)
-    {
-        xmlLoadCatalog(catalog);
-
         for (i = 0; i < num_threads; i++)
         {
             tid[i] = (HANDLE) -1;
@@ -187,26 +188,22 @@ main(void)
             }
             CloseHandle (tid[i]);
         }
+#endif /* pthreads */
 
-        xmlCatalogCleanup();
-        for (i = 0; i < num_threads; i++) {
-            if (threadParams[i].okay == 0)
-            printf("Thread %d handling %s failed\n", i,
-                   threadParams[i].filename);
+	xmlCatalogCleanup();
+
+	for (i = 0; i < num_threads; i++) {
+	    if (threadParams[i].okay == 0) {
+		printf("Thread %d handling %s failed\n", i,
+                       threadParams[i].filename);
+                status = 1;
+            }
         }
     }
+#endif /* LIBXML_THREADS_ENABLED */
 
     xmlCleanupParser();
 
-    return (0);
+    return (status);
 }
-#endif /* pthreads */
 
-#else /* !LIBXML_THREADS_ENABLED */
-int
-main(void)
-{
-    fprintf(stderr, "libxml was not compiled with thread or catalog support\n");
-    return (0);
-}
-#endif