diff --git a/libutils/Android.bp b/libutils/Android.bp
index 80dcdcb..32caa69 100644
--- a/libutils/Android.bp
+++ b/libutils/Android.bp
@@ -129,7 +129,6 @@
         "PropertyMap.cpp",
         "RefBase.cpp",
         "SharedBuffer.cpp",
-        "Static.cpp",
         "StopWatch.cpp",
         "String8.cpp",
         "String16.cpp",
diff --git a/libutils/Static.cpp b/libutils/Static.cpp
deleted file mode 100644
index 3ed07a1..0000000
--- a/libutils/Static.cpp
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,49 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright (C) 2008 The Android Open Source Project
- *
- * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
- * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- * limitations under the License.
- */
-
-// All static variables go here, to control initialization and
-// destruction order in the library.
-
-namespace android {
-
-// For String8.cpp
-extern void initialize_string8();
-extern void terminate_string8();
-
-// For String16.cpp
-extern void initialize_string16();
-extern void terminate_string16();
-
-class LibUtilsFirstStatics
-{
-public:
-    LibUtilsFirstStatics()
-    {
-        initialize_string8();
-        initialize_string16();
-    }
-    
-    ~LibUtilsFirstStatics()
-    {
-        terminate_string16();
-        terminate_string8();
-    }
-};
-
-static LibUtilsFirstStatics gFirstStatics;
-int gDarwinCantLoadAllObjects = 1;
-
-}   // namespace android
diff --git a/libutils/String16.cpp b/libutils/String16.cpp
index ad335c3..84d53dd 100644
--- a/libutils/String16.cpp
+++ b/libutils/String16.cpp
@@ -24,29 +24,16 @@
 
 namespace android {
 
-static SharedBuffer* gEmptyStringBuf = NULL;
-static char16_t* gEmptyString = NULL;
+static inline char16_t* getEmptyString() {
+    static SharedBuffer* gEmptyStringBuf = [] {
+        SharedBuffer* buf = SharedBuffer::alloc(sizeof(char16_t));
+        char16_t* str = static_cast<char16_t*>(buf->data());
+        *str = 0;
+        return buf;
+    }();
 
-static inline char16_t* getEmptyString()
-{
     gEmptyStringBuf->acquire();
-   return gEmptyString;
-}
-
-void initialize_string16()
-{
-    SharedBuffer* buf = SharedBuffer::alloc(sizeof(char16_t));
-    char16_t* str = (char16_t*)buf->data();
-    *str = 0;
-    gEmptyStringBuf = buf;
-    gEmptyString = str;
-}
-
-void terminate_string16()
-{
-    SharedBuffer::bufferFromData(gEmptyString)->release();
-    gEmptyStringBuf = NULL;
-    gEmptyString = NULL;
+    return static_cast<char16_t*>(gEmptyStringBuf->data());
 }
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/libutils/String8.cpp b/libutils/String8.cpp
index ad0e72e..580e870 100644
--- a/libutils/String8.cpp
+++ b/libutils/String8.cpp
@@ -40,40 +40,16 @@
 // to OS_PATH_SEPARATOR.
 #define RES_PATH_SEPARATOR '/'
 
-static SharedBuffer* gEmptyStringBuf = NULL;
-static char* gEmptyString = NULL;
+static inline char* getEmptyString() {
+    static SharedBuffer* gEmptyStringBuf = [] {
+        SharedBuffer* buf = SharedBuffer::alloc(1);
+        char* str = static_cast<char*>(buf->data());
+        *str = 0;
+        return buf;
+    }();
 
-extern int gDarwinCantLoadAllObjects;
-int gDarwinIsReallyAnnoying;
-
-void initialize_string8();
-
-static inline char* getEmptyString()
-{
     gEmptyStringBuf->acquire();
-    return gEmptyString;
-}
-
-void initialize_string8()
-{
-    // HACK: This dummy dependency forces linking libutils Static.cpp,
-    // which is needed to initialize String8/String16 classes.
-    // These variables are named for Darwin, but are needed elsewhere too,
-    // including static linking on any platform.
-    gDarwinIsReallyAnnoying = gDarwinCantLoadAllObjects;
-
-    SharedBuffer* buf = SharedBuffer::alloc(1);
-    char* str = (char*)buf->data();
-    *str = 0;
-    gEmptyStringBuf = buf;
-    gEmptyString = str;
-}
-
-void terminate_string8()
-{
-    SharedBuffer::bufferFromData(gEmptyString)->release();
-    gEmptyStringBuf = NULL;
-    gEmptyString = NULL;
+    return static_cast<char*>(gEmptyStringBuf->data());
 }
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------