diff --git a/std/mutex.zig b/std/mutex.zig
index 6aee87d1d797..e3d6c359870e 100644
--- a/std/mutex.zig
+++ b/std/mutex.zig
@@ -3,16 +3,31 @@ const builtin = @import("builtin");
 const AtomicOrder = builtin.AtomicOrder;
 const AtomicRmwOp = builtin.AtomicRmwOp;
 const assert = std.debug.assert;
+const linux = std.os.linux;
+
+// Reading: Futexes Are Tricky by Ulrich Drepper https://www.akkadia.org/drepper/futex.pdf
+
+// TODO robust mutexes https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/robust-futexes.txt
 
-/// TODO use syscalls instead of a spinlock
 pub const Mutex = struct {
-    lock: u8, // TODO use a bool
+    // TODO: Windows and OSX with futex equivilents
+    // 0: unlocked
+    // 1: locked, no waiters
+    // 2: locked: one or more waiters
+    lock: u32, // futexs are 32-bits on all architectures
 
     pub const Held = struct {
         mutex: *Mutex,
 
         pub fn release(self: Held) void {
-            assert(@atomicRmw(u8, &self.mutex.lock, builtin.AtomicRmwOp.Xchg, 0, AtomicOrder.SeqCst) == 1);
+            if (@atomicRmw(u32, &self.mutex.lock, AtomicRmwOp.Sub, 1, AtomicOrder.Release) != 1) {
+                self.mutex.lock = 0;
+                if (builtin.os == builtin.Os.linux) {
+                    _ = linux.futex_wake(@ptrToInt(&self.mutex.lock), linux.FUTEX_WAKE | linux.FUTEX_PRIVATE_FLAG, 1);
+                } else {
+                    // spin-lock
+                }
+            }
         }
     };
 
@@ -21,7 +36,28 @@ pub const Mutex = struct {
     }
 
     pub fn acquire(self: *Mutex) Held {
-        while (@atomicRmw(u8, &self.lock, builtin.AtomicRmwOp.Xchg, 1, AtomicOrder.SeqCst) != 0) {}
+        var c: u32 = undefined;
+        // This need not be strong because of the loop that follows.
+        // TODO implement mutex3 from https://www.akkadia.org/drepper/futex.pdf in x86 assembly.
+        if (@cmpxchgWeak(u32, &self.lock, 0, 1, AtomicOrder.Acquire, AtomicOrder.Monotonic)) |value1| {
+            c = value1;
+            while (true) {
+                if (c == 2 or
+                    @cmpxchgWeak(u32, &self.lock, 1, 2, AtomicOrder.Acquire, AtomicOrder.Monotonic) == null)
+                {
+                    if (builtin.os == builtin.Os.linux) {
+                        _ = linux.futex_wait(@ptrToInt(&self.lock), linux.FUTEX_WAIT | linux.FUTEX_PRIVATE_FLAG, 2, null);
+                    } else {
+                        // spin-lock
+                    }
+                }
+                if (@cmpxchgWeak(u32, &self.lock, 0, 2, AtomicOrder.Acquire, AtomicOrder.Monotonic)) |value2| {
+                    c = value2;
+                } else {
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+        }
         return Held{ .mutex = self };
     }
 };