diff --git a/alpine/packages/transfused/transfused.c b/alpine/packages/transfused/transfused.c
index 2445fdce0..8f56cbf80 100644
--- a/alpine/packages/transfused/transfused.c
+++ b/alpine/packages/transfused/transfused.c
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ char * usage =
 
 int debug = 0;
 
+pthread_attr_t detached;
+
 typedef struct {
   char * descr;
   long connection;
@@ -343,14 +345,10 @@ void start_reader(connection_t * connection, int fuse) {
   copy_state->tag = "read";
   copy_state->from = read_fd;
   copy_state->to = fuse;
-  if ((errno = pthread_create(&child, NULL,
+  if ((errno = pthread_create(&child, &detached,
                               copy_clean_from_thread, copy_state)))
     die(1, "", "couldn't create read copy thread for connection %ld: ",
         connection->id);
-
-  if ((errno = pthread_detach(child)))
-    die(1, "", "couldn't detach read copy thread for connection %ld: ",
-        connection->id);
 }
 
 void start_writer(connection_t * connection, int fuse) {
@@ -374,14 +372,10 @@ void start_writer(connection_t * connection, int fuse) {
   copy_state->tag = "write";
   copy_state->from = fuse;
   copy_state->to = write_fd;
-  if ((errno = pthread_create(&child, NULL,
+  if ((errno = pthread_create(&child, &detached,
                               copy_clean_to_thread, copy_state)))
     die(1, "", "Couldn't create write copy thread for connection %ld: ",
         connection->id);
-
-  if ((errno = pthread_detach(child)))
-    die(1, "", "couldn't detach write copy thread for connection %ld: ",
-        connection->id);
 }
 
 void * mount_connection(connection_t * conn) {
@@ -783,15 +777,11 @@ void process_events(char * events_path, int events, parameters * params) {
         die(1, NULL, "Unknown connection type '%c'", buf[0]);
       }
 
-      if ((errno = pthread_create(&child, NULL,
+      if ((errno = pthread_create(&child, &detached,
                                   connection_handler_thread, conn)))
         die(1, "", "Couldn't create thread for %s connection '%ld': ",
             conn->type_descr, conn_id);
 
-      if ((errno = pthread_detach(child)))
-        die(1, "", "Couldn't detach thread for %s connection '%ld': ",
-            conn->type_descr, conn_id);
-
       if (debug) log_time(conn, "thread spawned\n");
     }
 }
@@ -812,6 +802,10 @@ int main(int argc, char * argv[]) {
   parse_parameters(argc, argv, &params);
   setup_debug();
 
+  if ((errno = pthread_attr_setdetachstate(&detached,
+                                           PTHREAD_CREATE_DETACHED)))
+    die(1, "Couldn't set pthread detach state", "");
+
   if (params.pidfile != NULL) write_pidfile(params.pidfile);
 
   if (params.logfile != NULL) {
diff --git a/alpine/packages/transfused/transfused.h b/alpine/packages/transfused/transfused.h
index ed41fe416..7e4ce149a 100644
--- a/alpine/packages/transfused/transfused.h
+++ b/alpine/packages/transfused/transfused.h
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ typedef struct {
   char * type_descr;
 } connection_t;
 
+pthread_attr_t detached;
+
 void * must_malloc(char *const descr, size_t size);
 
 void lock(char *const descr, pthread_mutex_t * mutex);
diff --git a/alpine/packages/transfused/transfused_log.c b/alpine/packages/transfused/transfused_log.c
index 2746453c5..b4fd272ae 100644
--- a/alpine/packages/transfused/transfused_log.c
+++ b/alpine/packages/transfused/transfused_log.c
@@ -128,14 +128,9 @@ void thread_log_time(connection_t * conn, const char * fmt, ...) {
   // far from ideal but fine for now as we anticipate thread-sensitive
   // log demand to be low.
 
-  if ((errno = pthread_create(&logger, NULL, log_time_thread, log_state)))
+  if ((errno = pthread_create(&logger, &detached, log_time_thread, log_state)))
     die(1, "", "Couldn't create log thread for %s connection '%ld': ",
         conn->type_descr, conn->id);
-
-  if ((errno = pthread_detach(logger)))
-    die(1, "", "Couldn't detach thread for %s connection '%ld': ",
-        conn->type_descr, conn->id);
-
 }
 
 void log_continue_locked(connection_t * connection, const char * fmt, ...) {