diff --git a/src/basic/meson.build b/src/basic/meson.build
index ccb22e1595..85953dab0c 100644
--- a/src/basic/meson.build
+++ b/src/basic/meson.build
@@ -169,6 +169,7 @@ basic_sources = files('''
         process-util.h
         procfs-util.c
         procfs-util.h
+        pthread-util.h
         quota-util.c
         quota-util.h
         random-util.c
diff --git a/src/basic/pthread-util.h b/src/basic/pthread-util.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dc3eaba436
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/basic/pthread-util.h
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1+ */
+#pragma once
+
+#include <pthread.h>
+
+#include "macro.h"
+
+static inline pthread_mutex_t* pthread_mutex_lock_assert(pthread_mutex_t *mutex) {
+        assert_se(pthread_mutex_lock(mutex) == 0);
+        return mutex;
+}
+
+static inline void pthread_mutex_unlock_assertp(pthread_mutex_t **mutexp) {
+        if (*mutexp)
+                assert_se(pthread_mutex_unlock(*mutexp) == 0);
+}