diff --git a/lib/cpp/src/thrift/concurrency/BoostMutex.cpp b/lib/cpp/src/thrift/concurrency/BoostMutex.cpp
index f7cadab..4e556df 100644
--- a/lib/cpp/src/thrift/concurrency/BoostMutex.cpp
+++ b/lib/cpp/src/thrift/concurrency/BoostMutex.cpp
@@ -33,7 +33,9 @@
 namespace concurrency {
 
 /**
- * Implementation of Mutex class using boost interprocess mutex
+ * Implementation of Mutex class using boost::timed_mutex
+ *
+ * Methods throw boost::lock_error on error.
  *
  * @version $Id:$
  */
diff --git a/lib/cpp/src/thrift/concurrency/Mutex.cpp b/lib/cpp/src/thrift/concurrency/Mutex.cpp
index b6b915d..bcab05e 100644
--- a/lib/cpp/src/thrift/concurrency/Mutex.cpp
+++ b/lib/cpp/src/thrift/concurrency/Mutex.cpp
@@ -17,18 +17,24 @@
  * under the License.
  */
 
+// needed to test for pthread implementation capabilities:
+#define __USE_GNU
+
 #include <thrift/thrift-config.h>
 
 #include <thrift/Thrift.h>
+#include <thrift/concurrency/Exception.h>
 #include <thrift/concurrency/Mutex.h>
 #include <thrift/concurrency/Util.h>
 
 #include <assert.h>
-#ifdef HAVE_PTHREAD_H
+#include <stdlib.h>
 #include <pthread.h>
-#endif
 #include <signal.h>
+#include <string.h>
 
+#include <boost/format.hpp>
+#include <boost/shared_ptr.hpp>
 using boost::shared_ptr;
 
 namespace apache {
@@ -110,9 +116,17 @@
 #define PROFILE_MUTEX_UNLOCKED()
 #endif // THRIFT_PTHREAD_MUTEX_CONTENTION_PROFILING
 
+#define EINTR_LOOP(_CALL)          int ret; do { ret = _CALL; } while (ret == EINTR)
+#define ABORT_ONFAIL(_CALL)      { EINTR_LOOP(_CALL); if (ret) { abort(); } }
+#define THROW_SRE(_CALLSTR, RET) { throw SystemResourceException(boost::str(boost::format("%1% returned %2% (%3%)") % _CALLSTR % RET % ::strerror(RET))); }
+#define THROW_SRE_ONFAIL(_CALL)  { EINTR_LOOP(_CALL); if (ret) { THROW_SRE(#_CALL, ret); } }
+#define THROW_SRE_TRYFAIL(_CALL) { EINTR_LOOP(_CALL); if (ret == 0) { return true; } else if (ret == EBUSY) { return false; } THROW_SRE(#_CALL, ret); }
+
 /**
  * Implementation of Mutex class using POSIX mutex
  *
+ * Throws apache::thrift::concurrency::SystemResourceException on error.
+ *
  * @version $Id:$
  */
 class Mutex::impl {
@@ -128,19 +142,19 @@
   ~impl() {
     if (initialized_) {
       initialized_ = false;
-      int ret = pthread_mutex_destroy(&pthread_mutex_);
-      THRIFT_UNUSED_VARIABLE(ret);
-      assert(ret == 0);
+      ABORT_ONFAIL(pthread_mutex_destroy(&pthread_mutex_));
     }
   }
 
   void lock() const {
     PROFILE_MUTEX_START_LOCK();
-    pthread_mutex_lock(&pthread_mutex_);
+    THROW_SRE_ONFAIL(pthread_mutex_lock(&pthread_mutex_));
     PROFILE_MUTEX_LOCKED();
   }
 
-  bool trylock() const { return (0 == pthread_mutex_trylock(&pthread_mutex_)); }
+  bool trylock() const {
+    THROW_SRE_TRYFAIL(pthread_mutex_trylock(&pthread_mutex_));
+  }
 
   bool timedlock(int64_t milliseconds) const {
 #if defined(_POSIX_TIMEOUTS) && _POSIX_TIMEOUTS >= 200112L
@@ -148,14 +162,16 @@
 
     struct THRIFT_TIMESPEC ts;
     Util::toTimespec(ts, milliseconds + Util::currentTime());
-    int ret = pthread_mutex_timedlock(&pthread_mutex_, &ts);
+    EINTR_LOOP(pthread_mutex_timedlock(&pthread_mutex_, &ts));
     if (ret == 0) {
       PROFILE_MUTEX_LOCKED();
       return true;
+    } else if (ret == ETIMEDOUT) {
+      PROFILE_MUTEX_NOT_LOCKED();
+      return false;
     }
 
-    PROFILE_MUTEX_NOT_LOCKED();
-    return false;
+    THROW_SRE("pthread_mutex_timedlock(&pthread_mutex_, &ts)", ret);
 #else
     /* Otherwise follow solution used by Mono for Android */
     struct THRIFT_TIMESPEC sleepytime, now, to;
@@ -180,7 +196,7 @@
 
   void unlock() const {
     PROFILE_MUTEX_START_UNLOCK();
-    pthread_mutex_unlock(&pthread_mutex_);
+    THROW_SRE_ONFAIL(pthread_mutex_unlock(&pthread_mutex_));
     PROFILE_MUTEX_UNLOCKED();
   }
 
@@ -219,28 +235,16 @@
 
 void Mutex::DEFAULT_INITIALIZER(void* arg) {
   pthread_mutex_t* pthread_mutex = (pthread_mutex_t*)arg;
-  int ret = pthread_mutex_init(pthread_mutex, NULL);
-  THRIFT_UNUSED_VARIABLE(ret);
-  assert(ret == 0);
+  THROW_SRE_ONFAIL(pthread_mutex_init(pthread_mutex, NULL));
 }
 
-#if defined(PTHREAD_ADAPTIVE_MUTEX_INITIALIZER_NP)                                                 \
-    || defined(PTHREAD_RECURSIVE_MUTEX_INITIALIZER_NP)
+#if defined(PTHREAD_ADAPTIVE_MUTEX_INITIALIZER_NP) || defined(PTHREAD_ERRORCHECK_MUTEX_INITIALIZER_NP) || defined(PTHREAD_RECURSIVE_MUTEX_INITIALIZER_NP)
 static void init_with_kind(pthread_mutex_t* mutex, int kind) {
   pthread_mutexattr_t mutexattr;
-  int ret = pthread_mutexattr_init(&mutexattr);
-  assert(ret == 0);
-
-  // Apparently, this can fail.  Should we really be aborting?
-  ret = pthread_mutexattr_settype(&mutexattr, kind);
-  assert(ret == 0);
-
-  ret = pthread_mutex_init(mutex, &mutexattr);
-  assert(ret == 0);
-
-  ret = pthread_mutexattr_destroy(&mutexattr);
-  assert(ret == 0);
-  THRIFT_UNUSED_VARIABLE(ret);
+  THROW_SRE_ONFAIL(pthread_mutexattr_init(&mutexattr));
+  THROW_SRE_ONFAIL(pthread_mutexattr_settype(&mutexattr, kind));
+  THROW_SRE_ONFAIL(pthread_mutex_init(mutex, &mutexattr));
+  THROW_SRE_ONFAIL(pthread_mutexattr_destroy(&mutexattr));
 }
 #endif
 
@@ -258,6 +262,12 @@
 }
 #endif
 
+#ifdef PTHREAD_ERRORCHECK_MUTEX_INITIALIZER_NP
+void Mutex::ERRORCHECK_INITIALIZER(void* arg) {
+  init_with_kind((pthread_mutex_t*)arg, PTHREAD_MUTEX_ERRORCHECK);
+}
+#endif
+
 #ifdef PTHREAD_RECURSIVE_MUTEX_INITIALIZER_NP
 void Mutex::RECURSIVE_INITIALIZER(void* arg) {
   init_with_kind((pthread_mutex_t*)arg, PTHREAD_MUTEX_RECURSIVE_NP);
@@ -275,40 +285,36 @@
 #ifdef THRIFT_PTHREAD_MUTEX_CONTENTION_PROFILING
     profileTime_ = 0;
 #endif
-    int ret = pthread_rwlock_init(&rw_lock_, NULL);
-    THRIFT_UNUSED_VARIABLE(ret);
-    assert(ret == 0);
+    THROW_SRE_ONFAIL(pthread_rwlock_init(&rw_lock_, NULL));
     initialized_ = true;
   }
 
   ~impl() {
     if (initialized_) {
       initialized_ = false;
-      int ret = pthread_rwlock_destroy(&rw_lock_);
-      THRIFT_UNUSED_VARIABLE(ret);
-      assert(ret == 0);
+      ABORT_ONFAIL(pthread_rwlock_destroy(&rw_lock_));
     }
   }
 
   void acquireRead() const {
     PROFILE_MUTEX_START_LOCK();
-    pthread_rwlock_rdlock(&rw_lock_);
+    THROW_SRE_ONFAIL(pthread_rwlock_rdlock(&rw_lock_));
     PROFILE_MUTEX_NOT_LOCKED(); // not exclusive, so use not-locked path
   }
 
   void acquireWrite() const {
     PROFILE_MUTEX_START_LOCK();
-    pthread_rwlock_wrlock(&rw_lock_);
+    THROW_SRE_ONFAIL(pthread_rwlock_wrlock(&rw_lock_));
     PROFILE_MUTEX_LOCKED();
   }
 
-  bool attemptRead() const { return !pthread_rwlock_tryrdlock(&rw_lock_); }
+  bool attemptRead() const { THROW_SRE_TRYFAIL(pthread_rwlock_tryrdlock(&rw_lock_)); }
 
-  bool attemptWrite() const { return !pthread_rwlock_trywrlock(&rw_lock_); }
+  bool attemptWrite() const { THROW_SRE_TRYFAIL(pthread_rwlock_trywrlock(&rw_lock_)); }
 
   void release() const {
     PROFILE_MUTEX_START_UNLOCK();
-    pthread_rwlock_unlock(&rw_lock_);
+    THROW_SRE_ONFAIL(pthread_rwlock_unlock(&rw_lock_));
     PROFILE_MUTEX_UNLOCKED();
   }
 
diff --git a/lib/cpp/src/thrift/concurrency/Mutex.h b/lib/cpp/src/thrift/concurrency/Mutex.h
index 6f892dc..e1e395e 100644
--- a/lib/cpp/src/thrift/concurrency/Mutex.h
+++ b/lib/cpp/src/thrift/concurrency/Mutex.h
@@ -54,6 +54,11 @@
 #endif
 
 /**
+ * NOTE: All mutex implementations throw an exception on failure.  See each
+ *       specific implementation to understand the exception type(s) used.
+ */
+
+/**
  * A simple mutex class
  *
  * @version $Id:$
@@ -64,6 +69,7 @@
 
   Mutex(Initializer init = DEFAULT_INITIALIZER);
   virtual ~Mutex() {}
+
   virtual void lock() const;
   virtual bool trylock() const;
   virtual bool timedlock(int64_t milliseconds) const;
@@ -71,8 +77,11 @@
 
   void* getUnderlyingImpl() const;
 
-  static void DEFAULT_INITIALIZER(void*);
+  // If you attempt to use one of these and it fails to link, it means
+  // your version of pthreads does not support it - try another one.
   static void ADAPTIVE_INITIALIZER(void*);
+  static void DEFAULT_INITIALIZER(void*);
+  static void ERRORCHECK_INITIALIZER(void*);
   static void RECURSIVE_INITIALIZER(void*);
 
 private:
diff --git a/lib/cpp/src/thrift/concurrency/StdMutex.cpp b/lib/cpp/src/thrift/concurrency/StdMutex.cpp
index 49c18d8..e0f79fa 100644
--- a/lib/cpp/src/thrift/concurrency/StdMutex.cpp
+++ b/lib/cpp/src/thrift/concurrency/StdMutex.cpp
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@
 /**
  * Implementation of Mutex class using C++11 std::timed_mutex
  *
+ * Methods throw std::system_error on error.
+ *
  * @version $Id:$
  */
 class Mutex::impl : public std::timed_mutex {};
diff --git a/lib/cpp/src/thrift/concurrency/ThreadManager.cpp b/lib/cpp/src/thrift/concurrency/ThreadManager.cpp
index c4726dd..88cd59a 100644
--- a/lib/cpp/src/thrift/concurrency/ThreadManager.cpp
+++ b/lib/cpp/src/thrift/concurrency/ThreadManager.cpp
@@ -30,10 +30,6 @@
 #include <deque>
 #include <set>
 
-#if defined(DEBUG)
-#include <iostream>
-#endif // defined(DEBUG)
-
 namespace apache {
 namespace thrift {
 namespace concurrency {
diff --git a/lib/cpp/test/CMakeLists.txt b/lib/cpp/test/CMakeLists.txt
index ef3d417..6d4aa5e 100644
--- a/lib/cpp/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/lib/cpp/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -80,7 +80,8 @@
 )
 
 if(NOT WITH_BOOSTTHREADS AND NOT WITH_STDTHREADS AND NOT MSVC AND NOT MINGW)
-    list(APPEND UnitTest_SOURCES RWMutexStarveTest.cpp)
+    list(APPEND UnitTest_SOURCES concurrency/MutexTest.cpp)
+    list(APPEND UnitTest_SOURCES concurrency/RWMutexStarveTest.cpp)
 endif()
 
 add_executable(UnitTests ${UnitTest_SOURCES})
diff --git a/lib/cpp/test/Makefile.am b/lib/cpp/test/Makefile.am
index d387297..f61cff1 100755
--- a/lib/cpp/test/Makefile.am
+++ b/lib/cpp/test/Makefile.am
@@ -123,7 +123,8 @@
 
 if !WITH_BOOSTTHREADS
 UnitTests_SOURCES += \
-    RWMutexStarveTest.cpp
+  concurrency/MutexTest.cpp \
+  concurrency/RWMutexStarveTest.cpp
 endif
 
 UnitTests_LDADD = \
diff --git a/lib/cpp/test/concurrency/MutexTest.cpp b/lib/cpp/test/concurrency/MutexTest.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..781ec1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/cpp/test/concurrency/MutexTest.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you 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.
+ */
+
+// This is linked into the UnitTests test executable
+
+#include <boost/test/unit_test.hpp>
+
+#include "thrift/concurrency/Exception.h"
+#include "thrift/concurrency/Mutex.h"
+
+using boost::unit_test::test_suite;
+using boost::unit_test::framework::master_test_suite;
+
+using namespace apache::thrift::concurrency;
+
+struct LFAT
+{
+  LFAT()
+    : uut(Mutex::ERRORCHECK_INITIALIZER)
+  {
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(0, pthread_mutex_init(&mx, 0));
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(0, pthread_cond_init(&cv, 0));
+  }
+
+  Mutex uut;
+  pthread_mutex_t mx;
+  pthread_cond_t cv;
+};
+
+// Helper for testing mutex behavior when locked by another thread
+void * lockFromAnotherThread(void *ptr)
+{
+  struct LFAT *lfat = (LFAT *)ptr;
+  BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL   (0, pthread_mutex_lock(&lfat->mx));           // synchronize with testing thread
+  BOOST_CHECK_NO_THROW( lfat->uut.lock());
+  BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL   (0, pthread_cond_signal(&lfat->cv));          // tell testing thread we have locked the mutex
+  BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL   (0, pthread_cond_wait(&lfat->cv, &lfat->mx)); // wait for testing thread to signal condition variable telling us to unlock
+  BOOST_CHECK_NO_THROW( lfat->uut.unlock());
+  return ptr;                                                       // testing thread should join to ensure completeness
+}
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_SUITE(MutexTest)
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(happy_path)
+{
+  Mutex uut(Mutex::ERRORCHECK_INITIALIZER);                         // needed to test unlocking twice without undefined behavior
+
+  BOOST_CHECK_NO_THROW( uut.lock());
+  BOOST_CHECK_THROW   ( uut.lock(), SystemResourceException);       // EDEADLK (this thread owns it)
+  BOOST_CHECK_NO_THROW( uut.unlock());
+}
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(recursive_happy_path)
+{
+  Mutex uut(Mutex::RECURSIVE_INITIALIZER);
+
+  BOOST_CHECK_NO_THROW( uut.lock());
+  BOOST_CHECK_NO_THROW( uut.lock());
+  BOOST_CHECK_NO_THROW( uut.unlock());
+  BOOST_CHECK_NO_THROW( uut.lock());
+  BOOST_CHECK_NO_THROW( uut.lock());
+  BOOST_CHECK_NO_THROW( uut.unlock());
+  BOOST_CHECK_NO_THROW( uut.lock());
+  BOOST_CHECK_NO_THROW( uut.unlock());
+  BOOST_CHECK_NO_THROW( uut.unlock());
+  BOOST_CHECK_NO_THROW( uut.unlock());
+}
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(trylock)
+{
+  Mutex uut(Mutex::ADAPTIVE_INITIALIZER);   // just using another initializer for coverage
+
+  BOOST_CHECK         ( uut.trylock());
+  BOOST_CHECK         (!uut.trylock());
+  BOOST_CHECK_NO_THROW( uut.unlock());
+}
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(timedlock)
+{
+  pthread_t th;
+  struct LFAT lfat;
+
+  BOOST_CHECK         ( lfat.uut.timedlock(100));
+  BOOST_CHECK_THROW   ( lfat.uut.timedlock(100),
+                        SystemResourceException);                   // EDEADLK (current thread owns mutex - logic error)
+  BOOST_CHECK_NO_THROW( lfat.uut.unlock());
+
+  BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL   (0, pthread_mutex_lock(&lfat.mx));            // synchronize with helper thread
+  BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL   (0, pthread_create(&th, NULL,
+                            lockFromAnotherThread, &lfat));         // create helper thread
+  BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL   (0, pthread_cond_wait(&lfat.cv, &lfat.mx));   // wait for helper thread to lock mutex
+
+  BOOST_CHECK         (!lfat.uut.timedlock(100));                   // false: another thread owns the lock
+
+  BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL   (0, pthread_cond_signal(&lfat.cv));           // tell helper thread we are done
+  BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL   (0, pthread_mutex_unlock(&lfat.mx));          // let helper thread clean up
+  BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL   (0, pthread_join(th, 0));                     // wait for testing thread to unlock and be done
+}
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(underlying)
+{
+  Mutex uut;
+
+  BOOST_CHECK         ( uut.getUnderlyingImpl());
+}
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_SUITE_END()
diff --git a/lib/cpp/test/RWMutexStarveTest.cpp b/lib/cpp/test/concurrency/RWMutexStarveTest.cpp
similarity index 98%
rename from lib/cpp/test/RWMutexStarveTest.cpp
rename to lib/cpp/test/concurrency/RWMutexStarveTest.cpp
index 32c1531..63d780f 100644
--- a/lib/cpp/test/RWMutexStarveTest.cpp
+++ b/lib/cpp/test/concurrency/RWMutexStarveTest.cpp
@@ -17,8 +17,7 @@
  * under the License.
  */
 
-#include <iostream>
-#include <unistd.h>
+// This is linked into the UnitTests test executable
 
 #include <boost/shared_ptr.hpp>
 #include <boost/test/unit_test.hpp>