diff --git a/src/search.cpp b/src/search.cpp
index eda9d292..9992049e 100644
--- a/src/search.cpp
+++ b/src/search.cpp
@@ -2168,7 +2168,6 @@ void Thread::idle_loop(SplitPoint* sp) {
           if (do_terminate)
           {
               assert(!sp);
-              state = Thread::TERMINATED;
               lock_release(&sleepLock);
               return;
           }
diff --git a/src/thread.cpp b/src/thread.cpp
index e631645b..a8e26b9f 100644
--- a/src/thread.cpp
+++ b/src/thread.cpp
@@ -163,12 +163,12 @@ void ThreadsManager::init() {
       threads[i].threadID = i;
 
 #if defined(_MSC_VER)
-      bool ok = (CreateThread(NULL, 0, start_routine, (LPVOID)&threads[i].threadID , 0, NULL) != NULL);
+      threads[i].handle = CreateThread(NULL, 0, start_routine, (LPVOID)&threads[i].threadID, 0, NULL);
+      bool ok = (threads[i].handle != NULL);
 #else
-      pthread_t pthreadID;
-      bool ok = (pthread_create(&pthreadID, NULL, start_routine, (void*)&threads[i].threadID) == 0);
-      pthread_detach(pthreadID);
+      bool ok = (pthread_create(&threads[i].handle, NULL, start_routine, (void*)&threads[i].threadID) == 0);
 #endif
+
       if (!ok)
       {
           std::cout << "Failed to create thread number " << i << std::endl;
@@ -189,7 +189,14 @@ void ThreadsManager::exit() {
       {
           threads[i].do_terminate = true;
           threads[i].wake_up();
-          while (threads[i].state != Thread::TERMINATED) {}
+
+#if defined(_MSC_VER)
+          WaitForSingleObject(threads[i].handle, 0);
+          CloseHandle(threads[i].handle);
+#else
+          pthread_join(threads[i].handle, NULL);
+          pthread_detach(threads[i].handle);
+#endif
       }
 
       // Now we can safely destroy locks and wait conditions
diff --git a/src/thread.h b/src/thread.h
index aba43c90..5325debe 100644
--- a/src/thread.h
+++ b/src/thread.h
@@ -67,10 +67,9 @@ struct Thread {
 
   enum ThreadState
   {
-    SEARCHING,     // Thread is performing work
     AVAILABLE,     // Thread is waiting for work
     WORKISWAITING, // Master has ordered us to start searching
-    TERMINATED     // We are quitting and thread is terminated
+    SEARCHING      // Thread is performing work
   };
 
   void wake_up();
@@ -90,6 +89,12 @@ struct Thread {
   volatile int activeSplitPoints;
   volatile bool do_sleep;
   volatile bool do_terminate;
+
+#if defined(_MSC_VER)
+  HANDLE handle;
+#else
+  pthread_t handle;
+#endif
 };