diff --git a/src/corelib/global/qcompilerdetection.h b/src/corelib/global/qcompilerdetection.h
index f8a8a436bec..50dfe844033 100644
--- a/src/corelib/global/qcompilerdetection.h
+++ b/src/corelib/global/qcompilerdetection.h
@@ -556,7 +556,10 @@
 #      define Q_COMPILER_ALIGNAS
 #      define Q_COMPILER_ALIGNOF
 #      define Q_COMPILER_INHERITING_CONSTRUCTORS
-#      define Q_COMPILER_THREAD_LOCAL
+#      ifndef Q_OS_OSX
+//       C++11 thread_local is broken on OS X (Clang doesn't support it either)
+#        define Q_COMPILER_THREAD_LOCAL
+#      endif
 #      define Q_COMPILER_UDL
 #    endif
 #  endif