diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index ad8a8664..22923605 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -134,6 +134,8 @@ if(USE_LAPACK)
   endif()
 endif()
 
+find_package(Threads REQUIRED)
+
 if(USE_OPENMP)
   find_package(OpenMP)
   if(OpenMP_C_FOUND)
@@ -262,7 +264,8 @@ target_compile_definitions(${${PROJECT_NAME}_DIRECT} PRIVATE ${COMPILER_OPTS})
 target_link_libraries(${${PROJECT_NAME}_DIRECT}
                       PRIVATE ${LAPACK_LINK_LIBRARIES}
                               $<$<NOT:$<PLATFORM_ID:Windows>>:m>
-                              $<$<BOOL:${OpenMP_C_FOUND}>:OpenMP::OpenMP_C>)
+                              $<$<BOOL:${OpenMP_C_FOUND}>:OpenMP::OpenMP_C>
+                              Threads::Threads)
 
 set_target_properties(
   ${${PROJECT_NAME}_DIRECT}
@@ -306,7 +309,8 @@ target_compile_definitions(${${PROJECT_NAME}_INDIRECT} PRIVATE ${COMPILER_OPTS}
 target_link_libraries(${${PROJECT_NAME}_INDIRECT}
                       PRIVATE $<$<NOT:$<PLATFORM_ID:Windows>>:m>
                               ${LAPACK_LINK_LIBRARIES}
-                              $<$<BOOL:${OpenMP_C_FOUND}>:OpenMP::OpenMP_C>)
+                              $<$<BOOL:${OpenMP_C_FOUND}>:OpenMP::OpenMP_C>
+                              Threads::Threads)
 
 set_target_properties(
   ${${PROJECT_NAME}_INDIRECT}
@@ -352,7 +356,8 @@ if(USE_LAPACK)
   target_link_libraries(${${PROJECT_NAME}_DENSE}
                         PRIVATE ${LAPACK_LINK_LIBRARIES}
                                 $<$<NOT:$<PLATFORM_ID:Windows>>:m>
-                                $<$<BOOL:${OpenMP_C_FOUND}>:OpenMP::OpenMP_C>)
+                                $<$<BOOL:${OpenMP_C_FOUND}>:OpenMP::OpenMP_C>
+                                Threads::Threads)
 
   set_target_properties(
     ${${PROJECT_NAME}_DENSE}
@@ -411,7 +416,7 @@ if(DEFINED ENV{MKLROOT})
             mkl_gnu_thread
             mkl_core
             gomp
-            pthread
+            Threads::Threads
             dl)
 
   set_target_properties(
@@ -475,7 +480,8 @@ if(USE_CUDSS)
   target_link_libraries(
     ${${PROJECT_NAME}_CUDSS}
     PRIVATE CUDA::cudart cudss $<$<NOT:$<PLATFORM_ID:Windows>>:m>
-            ${LAPACK_LINK_LIBRARIES})
+            ${LAPACK_LINK_LIBRARIES}
+            Threads::Threads)
 
   set_target_properties(
     ${${PROJECT_NAME}_CUDSS}
diff --git a/scs.mk b/scs.mk
index 7bb54e16..4b7ce223 100644
--- a/scs.mk
+++ b/scs.mk
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ SHARED = dll
 SONAME = -soname
 else
 # we're on a linux system, use accurate timer provided by clock_gettime()
-LDFLAGS += -lm -lrt
+LDFLAGS += -lm -lrt -lpthread
 SHARED = so
 SONAME = -soname
 endif
diff --git a/src/ctrlc.c b/src/ctrlc.c
index 032b22de..f41f1754 100644
--- a/src/ctrlc.c
+++ b/src/ctrlc.c
@@ -33,49 +33,92 @@ int scs_is_interrupted(void) {
 #elif (defined _WIN32 || _WIN64 || defined _WINDLL)
 #include <windows.h>
 
-static int int_detected;
+static volatile LONG int_detected;
+static INIT_ONCE ctrlc_init_once = INIT_ONCE_STATIC_INIT;
+static CRITICAL_SECTION ctrlc_cs;
+static int listener_count = 0;
+
+static BOOL CALLBACK init_ctrlc_cs(PINIT_ONCE once, PVOID param, PVOID *ctx) {
+  (void)once;
+  (void)param;
+  (void)ctx;
+  InitializeCriticalSection(&ctrlc_cs);
+  return TRUE;
+}
+
 static BOOL WINAPI scs_handle_ctrlc(DWORD dwCtrlType) {
   if (dwCtrlType != CTRL_C_EVENT) {
     return FALSE;
   }
-  int_detected = 1;
+  InterlockedExchange(&int_detected, 1);
   return TRUE;
 }
 
 void scs_start_interrupt_listener(void) {
-  int_detected = 0;
-  SetConsoleCtrlHandler(scs_handle_ctrlc, TRUE);
+  InitOnceExecuteOnce(&ctrlc_init_once, init_ctrlc_cs, NULL, NULL);
+  EnterCriticalSection(&ctrlc_cs);
+  if (listener_count == 0) {
+    InterlockedExchange(&int_detected, 0);
+    SetConsoleCtrlHandler(scs_handle_ctrlc, TRUE);
+  }
+  listener_count++;
+  LeaveCriticalSection(&ctrlc_cs);
 }
 
 void scs_end_interrupt_listener(void) {
-  SetConsoleCtrlHandler(scs_handle_ctrlc, FALSE);
+  InitOnceExecuteOnce(&ctrlc_init_once, init_ctrlc_cs, NULL, NULL);
+  EnterCriticalSection(&ctrlc_cs);
+  if (listener_count > 0) {
+    listener_count--;
+    if (listener_count == 0) {
+      SetConsoleCtrlHandler(scs_handle_ctrlc, FALSE);
+    }
+  }
+  LeaveCriticalSection(&ctrlc_cs);
 }
 
 int scs_is_interrupted(void) {
-  return int_detected;
+  return (int)InterlockedCompareExchange(&int_detected, 0, 0);
 }
 
 #else /* Unix */
 
 #include <signal.h>
-static int int_detected;
-struct sigaction oact;
+#include <pthread.h>
+
+static volatile sig_atomic_t int_detected;
+static struct sigaction oact;
+static pthread_mutex_t ctrlc_mutex = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
+static int listener_count = 0;
+
 static void scs_handle_ctrlc(int dummy) {
   int_detected = dummy ? dummy : -1;
 }
 
 void scs_start_interrupt_listener(void) {
-  struct sigaction act;
-  int_detected = 0;
-  act.sa_flags = 0;
-  sigemptyset(&act.sa_mask);
-  act.sa_handler = scs_handle_ctrlc;
-  sigaction(SIGINT, &act, &oact);
+  pthread_mutex_lock(&ctrlc_mutex);
+  if (listener_count == 0) {
+    struct sigaction act;
+    int_detected = 0;
+    act.sa_flags = 0;
+    sigemptyset(&act.sa_mask);
+    act.sa_handler = scs_handle_ctrlc;
+    sigaction(SIGINT, &act, &oact);
+  }
+  listener_count++;
+  pthread_mutex_unlock(&ctrlc_mutex);
 }
 
 void scs_end_interrupt_listener(void) {
-  struct sigaction act;
-  sigaction(SIGINT, &oact, &act);
+  pthread_mutex_lock(&ctrlc_mutex);
+  if (listener_count > 0) {
+    listener_count--;
+    if (listener_count == 0) {
+      struct sigaction act;
+      sigaction(SIGINT, &oact, &act);
+    }
+  }
+  pthread_mutex_unlock(&ctrlc_mutex);
 }
 
 int scs_is_interrupted(void) {
diff --git a/src/scs.c b/src/scs.c
index 551ab51b..4144cbd9 100644
--- a/src/scs.c
+++ b/src/scs.c
@@ -1130,7 +1130,6 @@ static scs_int update_scale(ScsWork *w, const ScsCone *k, scs_int iter) {
 ScsWork *scs_init(const ScsData *d, const ScsCone *k, const ScsSettings *stgs) {
   ScsWork *w;
   SCS(timer) init_timer;
-  scs_start_interrupt_listener();
   if (!d || !k) {
     scs_printf("ERROR: Missing ScsData or ScsCone input\n");
     return SCS_NULL;
@@ -1141,6 +1140,7 @@ ScsWork *scs_init(const ScsData *d, const ScsCone *k, const ScsSettings *stgs) {
     return SCS_NULL;
   }
 #endif
+  scs_start_interrupt_listener();
 #if VERBOSITY > 0
   scs_printf("size of scs_int = %lu, size of scs_float = %lu\n",
              sizeof(scs_int), sizeof(scs_float));