diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index c0b942e..465f5f7 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@
 # https://github.com/desktop-app/legal/blob/master/LEGAL
 
 add_subdirectory(external)
+if (LINUX)
+    add_subdirectory(linux_jemalloc_helper)
+endif()
 if (LINUX AND NOT DESKTOP_APP_USE_PACKAGED)
     add_subdirectory(linux_xcb_helper)
 endif()
diff --git a/external/jemalloc/CMakeLists.txt b/external/jemalloc/CMakeLists.txt
index 7b96e6e..39e1909 100644
--- a/external/jemalloc/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/external/jemalloc/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ if (DESKTOP_APP_USE_PACKAGED)
             ${JEMALLOC_INCLUDE_DIRS}
         )
 
-        target_link_options(external_jemalloc
+        target_link_libraries(external_jemalloc
         INTERFACE
             -Wl,--push-state,--no-as-needed,${JEMALLOC_LINK_LIBRARIES},--pop-state
         )
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ INTERFACE
     ${SOURCE_DIR}/include
 )
 
-target_link_options(external_jemalloc
+target_link_libraries(external_jemalloc
 INTERFACE
     -Wl,--push-state,--whole-archive,${SOURCE_DIR}/lib/libjemalloc.a,--pop-state
 )
diff --git a/linux_jemalloc_helper/CMakeLists.txt b/linux_jemalloc_helper/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0466d8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/linux_jemalloc_helper/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# This file is part of Desktop App Toolkit,
+# a set of libraries for developing nice desktop applications.
+#
+# For license and copyright information please follow this link:
+# https://github.com/desktop-app/legal/blob/master/LEGAL
+
+add_library(linux_jemalloc_helper OBJECT)
+init_target(linux_jemalloc_helper "(external)")
+add_library(desktop-app::linux_jemalloc_helper ALIAS linux_jemalloc_helper)
+
+nice_target_sources(linux_jemalloc_helper ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}
+PRIVATE
+    linux_jemalloc_helper.cpp
+)
+
+target_link_libraries(linux_jemalloc_helper
+PRIVATE
+    desktop-app::external_jemalloc
+)
diff --git a/linux_jemalloc_helper/linux_jemalloc_helper.cpp b/linux_jemalloc_helper/linux_jemalloc_helper.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b6c0ad3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/linux_jemalloc_helper/linux_jemalloc_helper.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+// This file is part of Desktop App Toolkit,
+// a set of libraries for developing nice desktop applications.
+//
+// For license and copyright information please follow this link:
+// https://github.com/desktop-app/legal/blob/master/LEGAL
+//
+#ifdef __FREEBSD__
+#include <malloc_np.h>
+#else // __FREEBSD__
+#include <jemalloc/jemalloc.h>
+#endif // !__FREEBSD__
+
+namespace {
+
+class JemallocInitializer {
+public:
+	JemallocInitializer() {
+		auto backgroundThread = true;
+		mallctl("background_thread", nullptr, nullptr, &backgroundThread, sizeof(bool));
+	}
+};
+
+static const JemallocInitializer initializer;
+
+} // namespace
diff --git a/options_linux.cmake b/options_linux.cmake
index 65bd94a..ced5f8e 100644
--- a/options_linux.cmake
+++ b/options_linux.cmake
@@ -64,7 +64,8 @@ endif()
 
 target_link_libraries(common_options
 INTERFACE
-    desktop-app::external_jemalloc
+    desktop-app::linux_jemalloc_helper
+    $<TARGET_OBJECTS:desktop-app::linux_jemalloc_helper>
     ${CMAKE_DL_LIBS}
 )