diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -700,6 +700,11 @@
     TYPE OPTIONAL
     PURPOSE "Required by the Krita PDF filter.")
 
+##
+## Test for Atomics
+##
+include(CheckAtomic)
+
  ############################
 #############################
 ## Add Krita helper macros ##
diff --git a/cmake/modules/CheckAtomic.cmake b/cmake/modules/CheckAtomic.cmake
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/modules/CheckAtomic.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+# ==============================================================================
+# LLVM Release License
+# ==============================================================================
+# University of Illinois/NCSA
+# Open Source License
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2003-2018 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
+# All rights reserved.
+#
+# Developed by:
+#
+# LLVM Team
+#
+# University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
+#
+# http://llvm.org
+#
+# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of
+# this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal with
+# the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to
+# use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies
+# of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do
+# so, subject to the following conditions:
+#
+# * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
+# this list of conditions and the following disclaimers.
+#
+# * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
+# this list of conditions and the following disclaimers in the
+# documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
+#
+# * Neither the names of the LLVM Team, University of Illinois at
+# Urbana-Champaign, nor the names of its contributors may be used to
+# endorse or promote products derived from this Software without specific
+# prior written permission.
+#
+# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS
+# FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+# CONTRIBUTORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+# LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+# OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS WITH THE
+# SOFTWARE.
+
+INCLUDE(CheckCXXSourceCompiles)
+INCLUDE(CheckLibraryExists)
+
+# Sometimes linking against libatomic is required for atomic ops, if
+# the platform doesn't support lock-free atomics.
+
+function(check_working_cxx_atomics varname)
+set(OLD_CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS ${CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS})
+set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS "${CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS} -std=c++11")
+CHECK_CXX_SOURCE_COMPILES("
+#include <atomic>
+std::atomic<int> x;
+int main() {
+return std::atomic_is_lock_free(&x);
+}
+" ${varname})
+set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS ${OLD_CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS})
+endfunction(check_working_cxx_atomics)
+
+function(check_working_cxx_atomics64 varname)
+set(OLD_CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS ${CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS})
+set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS "-std=c++11 ${CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS}")
+CHECK_CXX_SOURCE_COMPILES("
+#include <atomic>
+#include <cstdint>
+std::atomic<uint64_t> x (0);
+int main() {
+uint64_t i = x.load(std::memory_order_relaxed);
+return std::atomic_is_lock_free(&x);
+}
+" ${varname})
+set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS ${OLD_CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS})
+endfunction(check_working_cxx_atomics64)
+
+
+# This isn't necessary on MSVC, so avoid command-line switch annoyance
+# by only running on GCC-like hosts.
+if (LLVM_COMPILER_IS_GCC_COMPATIBLE)
+	# First check if atomics work without the library.
+	check_working_cxx_atomics(HAVE_CXX_ATOMICS_WITHOUT_LIB)
+	# If not, check if the library exists, and atomics work with it.
+	if(NOT HAVE_CXX_ATOMICS_WITHOUT_LIB)
+		check_library_exists(atomic __atomic_fetch_add_4 "" HAVE_LIBATOMIC)
+		if( HAVE_LIBATOMIC )
+			list(APPEND CMAKE_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES "atomic")
+			check_working_cxx_atomics(HAVE_CXX_ATOMICS_WITH_LIB)
+			if (NOT HAVE_CXX_ATOMICS_WITH_LIB)
+				message(FATAL_ERROR "Host compiler must support std::atomic!")
+			endif()
+		else()
+			message(FATAL_ERROR "Host compiler appears to require libatomic, but cannot find it.")
+		endif()
+	endif()
+endif()
+# Check for 64 bit atomic operations.
+if(MSVC)
+	set(HAVE_CXX_ATOMICS64_WITHOUT_LIB True)
+else()
+	check_working_cxx_atomics64(HAVE_CXX_ATOMICS64_WITHOUT_LIB)
+endif()
+
+# If not, check if the library exists, and atomics work with it.
+if(NOT HAVE_CXX_ATOMICS64_WITHOUT_LIB)
+	check_library_exists(atomic __atomic_load_8 "" HAVE_CXX_LIBATOMICS64)
+	if(HAVE_CXX_LIBATOMICS64)
+		list(APPEND CMAKE_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES "atomic")
+		check_working_cxx_atomics64(HAVE_CXX_ATOMICS64_WITH_LIB)
+		if (NOT HAVE_CXX_ATOMICS64_WITH_LIB)
+			message(FATAL_ERROR "Host compiler must support std::atomic!")
+		endif()
+	else()
+		message(FATAL_ERROR "Host compiler appears to require libatomic, but cannot find it.")
+	endif()
+endif()
diff --git a/libs/image/CMakeLists.txt b/libs/image/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/libs/image/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/libs/image/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -335,6 +335,12 @@
 
 target_link_libraries(kritaimage PUBLIC ${Boost_SYSTEM_LIBRARY})
 
+if(NOT HAVE_CXX_ATOMICS_WITHOUT_LIB)
+    if(NOT HAVE_CXX_ATOMICS64_WITHOUT_LIB)
+        target_link_libraries(kritaimage PUBLIC atomic)
+    endif()
+endif()
+
 if(OPENEXR_FOUND)
   target_link_libraries(kritaimage PUBLIC ${OPENEXR_LIBRARIES})
 endif()