diff --git a/libc/bionic/system_properties.cpp b/libc/bionic/system_properties.cpp
index a564c39..30081a5 100644
--- a/libc/bionic/system_properties.cpp
+++ b/libc/bionic/system_properties.cpp
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
  * SUCH DAMAGE.
  */
 #include <new>
+#include <stdatomic.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
@@ -45,7 +46,6 @@
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <netinet/in.h>
-#include <unistd.h>
 
 #define _REALLY_INCLUDE_SYS__SYSTEM_PROPERTIES_H_
 #include <sys/_system_properties.h>
@@ -80,6 +80,16 @@
     uint8_t namelen;
     uint8_t reserved[3];
 
+    // TODO: The following fields should be declared as atomic_uint32_t.
+    // They should be assigned to with release semantics, instead of using
+    // explicit fences.  Unfortunately, the read accesses are generally
+    // followed by more dependent read accesses, and the dependence
+    // is assumed to enforce memory ordering.  Which it does on supported
+    // hardware.  This technically should use memory_order_consume, if
+    // that worked as intended.
+    // We should also avoid rereading these fields redundantly, since not
+    // all processor implementations ensure that multiple loads from the
+    // same field are carried out in the right order.
     volatile uint32_t prop;
 
     volatile uint32_t left;
@@ -93,7 +103,8 @@
         this->namelen = name_length;
         memcpy(this->name, name, name_length);
         this->name[name_length] = '\0';
-        ANDROID_MEMBAR_FULL();
+        ANDROID_MEMBAR_FULL();  // TODO: Instead use a release store
+                                // for subsequent pointer assignment.
     }
 
 private:
@@ -102,14 +113,15 @@
 
 struct prop_area {
     uint32_t bytes_used;
-    volatile uint32_t serial;
+    atomic_uint_least32_t serial;
     uint32_t magic;
     uint32_t version;
     uint32_t reserved[28];
     char data[0];
 
     prop_area(const uint32_t magic, const uint32_t version) :
-        serial(0), magic(magic), version(version) {
+        magic(magic), version(version) {
+        atomic_init(&serial, 0);
         memset(reserved, 0, sizeof(reserved));
         // Allocate enough space for the root node.
         bytes_used = sizeof(prop_bt);
@@ -120,7 +132,7 @@
 };
 
 struct prop_info {
-    volatile uint32_t serial;
+    atomic_uint_least32_t serial;
     char value[PROP_VALUE_MAX];
     char name[0];
 
@@ -128,10 +140,11 @@
               const uint8_t valuelen) {
         memcpy(this->name, name, namelen);
         this->name[namelen] = '\0';
-        this->serial = (valuelen << 24);
+        atomic_init(&this->serial, valuelen << 24);
         memcpy(this->value, value, valuelen);
         this->value[valuelen] = '\0';
-        ANDROID_MEMBAR_FULL();
+        ANDROID_MEMBAR_FULL();  // TODO: Instead use a release store
+                                // for subsequent point assignment.
     }
 private:
     DISALLOW_COPY_AND_ASSIGN(prop_info);
@@ -605,11 +618,20 @@
     }
 
     while (true) {
-        uint32_t serial = __system_property_serial(pi);
+        uint32_t serial = __system_property_serial(pi); // acquire semantics
         size_t len = SERIAL_VALUE_LEN(serial);
         memcpy(value, pi->value, len + 1);
-        ANDROID_MEMBAR_FULL();
-        if (serial == pi->serial) {
+        // TODO: Fix the synchronization scheme here.
+        // There is no fully supported way to implement this kind
+        // of synchronization in C++11, since the memcpy races with
+        // updates to pi, and the data being accessed is not atomic.
+        // The following fence is unintuitive, but would be the
+        // correct one if memcpy used memory_order_relaxed atomic accesses.
+        // In practice it seems unlikely that the generated code would
+        // would be any different, so this should be OK.
+        atomic_thread_fence(memory_order_acquire);
+        if (serial ==
+                atomic_load_explicit(&(pi->serial), memory_order_relaxed)) {
             if (name != 0) {
                 strcpy(name, pi->name);
             }
@@ -658,14 +680,24 @@
     if (len >= PROP_VALUE_MAX)
         return -1;
 
-    pi->serial = pi->serial | 1;
-    ANDROID_MEMBAR_FULL();
+    uint32_t serial = atomic_load_explicit(&pi->serial, memory_order_relaxed);
+    serial |= 1;
+    atomic_store_explicit(&pi->serial, serial, memory_order_relaxed);
+    // The memcpy call here also races.  Again pretend it
+    // used memory_order_relaxed atomics, and use the analogous
+    // counterintuitive fence.
+    atomic_thread_fence(memory_order_release);
     memcpy(pi->value, value, len + 1);
-    ANDROID_MEMBAR_FULL();
-    pi->serial = (len << 24) | ((pi->serial + 1) & 0xffffff);
+    atomic_store_explicit(
+        &pi->serial,
+        (len << 24) | ((serial + 1) & 0xffffff),
+        memory_order_release);
     __futex_wake(&pi->serial, INT32_MAX);
 
-    pa->serial++;
+    atomic_store_explicit(
+        &pa->serial,
+        atomic_load_explicit(&pa->serial, memory_order_relaxed) + 1,
+        memory_order_release);
     __futex_wake(&pa->serial, INT32_MAX);
 
     return 0;
@@ -688,17 +720,25 @@
     if (!pi)
         return -1;
 
-    pa->serial++;
+    // There is only a single mutator, but we want to make sure that
+    // updates are visible to a reader waiting for the update.
+    atomic_store_explicit(
+        &pa->serial,
+        atomic_load_explicit(&pa->serial, memory_order_relaxed) + 1,
+        memory_order_release);
     __futex_wake(&pa->serial, INT32_MAX);
     return 0;
 }
 
+// Wait for non-locked serial, and retrieve it with acquire semantics.
 unsigned int __system_property_serial(const prop_info *pi)
 {
-    uint32_t serial = pi->serial;
+    uint32_t serial = atomic_load_explicit(&pi->serial, memory_order_acquire);
     while (SERIAL_DIRTY(serial)) {
-        __futex_wait(const_cast<volatile uint32_t*>(&pi->serial), serial, NULL);
-        serial = pi->serial;
+        __futex_wait(const_cast<volatile void *>(
+                        reinterpret_cast<const void *>(&pi->serial)),
+                     serial, NULL);
+        serial = atomic_load_explicit(&pi->serial, memory_order_acquire);
     }
     return serial;
 }
@@ -706,12 +746,14 @@
 unsigned int __system_property_wait_any(unsigned int serial)
 {
     prop_area *pa = __system_property_area__;
+    uint32_t my_serial;
 
     do {
         __futex_wait(&pa->serial, serial, NULL);
-    } while (pa->serial == serial);
+        my_serial = atomic_load_explicit(&pa->serial, memory_order_acquire);
+    } while (my_serial == serial);
 
-    return pa->serial;
+    return my_serial;
 }
 
 const prop_info *__system_property_find_nth(unsigned n)