diff --git a/util/qemu-thread-posix.c b/util/qemu-thread-posix.c
index 7306475899..959a57079f 100644
--- a/util/qemu-thread-posix.c
+++ b/util/qemu-thread-posix.c
@@ -479,15 +479,29 @@ static void __attribute__((constructor)) qemu_thread_atexit_init(void)
 }
 
 
-/* Attempt to set the threads name; note that this is for debug, so
- * we're not going to fail if we can't set it.
- */
-static void qemu_thread_set_name(QemuThread *thread, const char *name)
-{
 #ifdef CONFIG_PTHREAD_SETNAME_NP
-    pthread_setname_np(thread->thread, name);
-#endif
+typedef struct {
+    void *(*start_routine)(void *);
+    void *arg;
+    char *name;
+} QemuThreadArgs;
+
+static void *qemu_thread_start(void *args)
+{
+    QemuThreadArgs *qemu_thread_args = args;
+    void *(*start_routine)(void *) = qemu_thread_args->start_routine;
+    void *arg = qemu_thread_args->arg;
+
+    /* Attempt to set the threads name; note that this is for debug, so
+     * we're not going to fail if we can't set it.
+     */
+    pthread_setname_np(pthread_self(), qemu_thread_args->name);
+    g_free(qemu_thread_args->name);
+    g_free(qemu_thread_args);
+    return start_routine(arg);
 }
+#endif
+
 
 void qemu_thread_create(QemuThread *thread, const char *name,
                        void *(*start_routine)(void*),
@@ -502,23 +516,34 @@ void qemu_thread_create(QemuThread *thread, const char *name,
         error_exit(err, __func__);
     }
 
+    if (mode == QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED) {
+        pthread_attr_setdetachstate(&attr, PTHREAD_CREATE_DETACHED);
+    }
+
     /* Leave signal handling to the iothread.  */
     sigfillset(&set);
     pthread_sigmask(SIG_SETMASK, &set, &oldset);
-    err = pthread_create(&thread->thread, &attr, start_routine, arg);
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_PTHREAD_SETNAME_NP
+    if (name_threads) {
+        QemuThreadArgs *qemu_thread_args;
+        qemu_thread_args = g_new0(QemuThreadArgs, 1);
+        qemu_thread_args->name = g_strdup(name);
+        qemu_thread_args->start_routine = start_routine;
+        qemu_thread_args->arg = arg;
+
+        err = pthread_create(&thread->thread, &attr,
+                             qemu_thread_start, qemu_thread_args);
+    } else
+#endif
+    {
+        err = pthread_create(&thread->thread, &attr,
+                             start_routine, arg);
+    }
+
     if (err)
         error_exit(err, __func__);
 
-    if (name_threads) {
-        qemu_thread_set_name(thread, name);
-    }
-
-    if (mode == QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED) {
-        err = pthread_detach(thread->thread);
-        if (err) {
-            error_exit(err, __func__);
-        }
-    }
     pthread_sigmask(SIG_SETMASK, &oldset, NULL);
 
     pthread_attr_destroy(&attr);