diff --git a/config/meson.build b/config/meson.build
index e80421003b..912d51582c 100644
--- a/config/meson.build
+++ b/config/meson.build
@@ -301,7 +301,6 @@ else # for 32-bit we need smaller reserved memory areas
     dpdk_conf.set('RTE_MAX_MEM_MB', 2048)
 endif
 
-
 compile_time_cpuflags = []
 subdir(arch_subdir)
 dpdk_conf.set('RTE_COMPILE_TIME_CPUFLAGS', ','.join(compile_time_cpuflags))
diff --git a/lib/eal/windows/include/pthread.h b/lib/eal/windows/include/pthread.h
deleted file mode 100644
index 27fd2cca52..0000000000
--- a/lib/eal/windows/include/pthread.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,192 +0,0 @@
-/* SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
- * Copyright(c) 2019 Intel Corporation
- */
-
-#ifndef _PTHREAD_H_
-#define _PTHREAD_H_
-
-#include <stdint.h>
-#include <sched.h>
-
-/**
- * This file is required to support the common code in eal_common_proc.c,
- * eal_common_thread.c and common\include\rte_per_lcore.h as Microsoft libc
- * does not contain pthread.h. This may be removed in future releases.
- */
-#ifdef __cplusplus
-extern "C" {
-#endif
-
-#include <rte_common.h>
-#include <rte_windows.h>
-
-#define PTHREAD_BARRIER_SERIAL_THREAD TRUE
-
-/* defining pthread_t type on Windows since there is no in Microsoft libc*/
-typedef uintptr_t pthread_t;
-
-/* defining pthread_attr_t type on Windows since there is no in Microsoft libc*/
-typedef void *pthread_attr_t;
-
-typedef void *pthread_mutexattr_t;
-
-typedef CRITICAL_SECTION pthread_mutex_t;
-
-typedef SYNCHRONIZATION_BARRIER pthread_barrier_t;
-
-#define pthread_barrier_init(barrier, attr, count) \
-	!InitializeSynchronizationBarrier(barrier, count, -1)
-#define pthread_barrier_wait(barrier) EnterSynchronizationBarrier(barrier, \
-	SYNCHRONIZATION_BARRIER_FLAGS_BLOCK_ONLY)
-#define pthread_barrier_destroy(barrier) \
-	!DeleteSynchronizationBarrier(barrier)
-#define pthread_cancel(thread) !TerminateThread((HANDLE) thread, 0)
-
-/* pthread function overrides */
-#define pthread_self() \
-	((pthread_t)GetCurrentThreadId())
-
-
-static inline int
-pthread_equal(pthread_t t1, pthread_t t2)
-{
-	return t1 == t2;
-}
-
-static inline int
-pthread_setaffinity_np(pthread_t threadid, size_t cpuset_size,
-			rte_cpuset_t *cpuset)
-{
-	DWORD_PTR ret = 0;
-	HANDLE thread_handle;
-
-	if (cpuset == NULL || cpuset_size == 0)
-		return -1;
-
-	thread_handle = OpenThread(THREAD_ALL_ACCESS, FALSE, threadid);
-	if (thread_handle == NULL) {
-		RTE_LOG_WIN32_ERR("OpenThread()");
-		return -1;
-	}
-
-	ret = SetThreadAffinityMask(thread_handle, *cpuset->_bits);
-	if (ret == 0) {
-		RTE_LOG_WIN32_ERR("SetThreadAffinityMask()");
-		goto close_handle;
-	}
-
-close_handle:
-	if (CloseHandle(thread_handle) == 0) {
-		RTE_LOG_WIN32_ERR("CloseHandle()");
-		return -1;
-	}
-	return (ret == 0) ? -1 : 0;
-}
-
-static inline int
-pthread_getaffinity_np(pthread_t threadid, size_t cpuset_size,
-			rte_cpuset_t *cpuset)
-{
-	/* Workaround for the lack of a GetThreadAffinityMask()
-	 *API in Windows
-	 */
-	DWORD_PTR prev_affinity_mask;
-	HANDLE thread_handle;
-	DWORD_PTR ret = 0;
-
-	if (cpuset == NULL || cpuset_size == 0)
-		return -1;
-
-	thread_handle = OpenThread(THREAD_ALL_ACCESS, FALSE, threadid);
-	if (thread_handle == NULL) {
-		RTE_LOG_WIN32_ERR("OpenThread()");
-		return -1;
-	}
-
-	/* obtain previous mask by setting dummy mask */
-	prev_affinity_mask = SetThreadAffinityMask(thread_handle, 0x1);
-	if (prev_affinity_mask == 0) {
-		RTE_LOG_WIN32_ERR("SetThreadAffinityMask()");
-		goto close_handle;
-	}
-
-	/* set it back! */
-	ret = SetThreadAffinityMask(thread_handle, prev_affinity_mask);
-	if (ret == 0) {
-		RTE_LOG_WIN32_ERR("SetThreadAffinityMask()");
-		goto close_handle;
-	}
-
-	memset(cpuset, 0, cpuset_size);
-	*cpuset->_bits = prev_affinity_mask;
-
-close_handle:
-	if (CloseHandle(thread_handle) == 0) {
-		RTE_LOG_WIN32_ERR("SetThreadAffinityMask()");
-		return -1;
-	}
-	return (ret == 0) ? -1 : 0;
-}
-
-static inline int
-pthread_create(void *threadid, const void *threadattr, void *threadfunc,
-		void *args)
-{
-	RTE_SET_USED(threadattr);
-	HANDLE hThread;
-	hThread = CreateThread(NULL, 0, (LPTHREAD_START_ROUTINE)threadfunc,
-		args, 0, (LPDWORD)threadid);
-	if (hThread) {
-		SetPriorityClass(GetCurrentProcess(), NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS);
-		SetThreadPriority(hThread, THREAD_PRIORITY_NORMAL);
-	}
-	return ((hThread != NULL) ? 0 : E_FAIL);
-}
-
-static inline int
-pthread_detach(__rte_unused pthread_t thread)
-{
-	return 0;
-}
-
-static inline int
-pthread_join(__rte_unused pthread_t thread,
-	__rte_unused void **value_ptr)
-{
-	return 0;
-}
-
-static inline int
-pthread_mutex_init(pthread_mutex_t *mutex,
-		   __rte_unused pthread_mutexattr_t *attr)
-{
-	InitializeCriticalSection(mutex);
-	return 0;
-}
-
-static inline int
-pthread_mutex_lock(pthread_mutex_t *mutex)
-{
-	EnterCriticalSection(mutex);
-	return 0;
-}
-
-static inline int
-pthread_mutex_unlock(pthread_mutex_t *mutex)
-{
-	LeaveCriticalSection(mutex);
-	return 0;
-}
-
-static inline int
-pthread_mutex_destroy(pthread_mutex_t *mutex)
-{
-	DeleteCriticalSection(mutex);
-	return 0;
-}
-
-#ifdef __cplusplus
-}
-#endif
-
-#endif /* _PTHREAD_H_ */
diff --git a/lib/eal/windows/meson.build b/lib/eal/windows/meson.build
index fc12fefd0d..22c00c3dc8 100644
--- a/lib/eal/windows/meson.build
+++ b/lib/eal/windows/meson.build
@@ -20,7 +20,12 @@ sources += files(
         'eal_timer.c',
         'fnmatch.c',
         'getopt.c',
-        'rte_thread.c',
 )
 
+if get_option('use_external_thread_lib')
+	sources += 'eal/common/rte_thread.c'
+else
+	sources += 'eal/windows/rte_thread.c'
+endif
+
 dpdk_conf.set10('RTE_EAL_NUMA_AWARE_HUGEPAGES', true)
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 0e92734c49..71f38bf16b 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -46,3 +46,5 @@ option('tests', type: 'boolean', value: true, description:
        'build unit tests')
 option('use_hpet', type: 'boolean', value: false, description:
        'use HPET timer in EAL')
+option('use_external_thread_lib', type: 'boolean', value: false,
+	description: 'use an external thread library')
