diff --git a/src/unix/darwin-proctitle.c b/src/unix/darwin-proctitle.c
index eced23c2..8d074b34 100644
--- a/src/unix/darwin-proctitle.c
+++ b/src/unix/darwin-proctitle.c
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@
 
 #include <dlfcn.h>
 #include <errno.h>
-#include <pthread.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
@@ -37,6 +36,7 @@
 #define S(s) pCFStringCreateWithCString(NULL, (s), kCFStringEncodingUTF8)
 
 
+static int (*dynamic_pthread_setname_np)(const char* name);
 #if !TARGET_OS_IPHONE
 static CFStringRef (*pCFStringCreateWithCString)(CFAllocatorRef,
                                                  const char*,
@@ -77,9 +77,13 @@ UV_DESTRUCTOR(static void uv__set_process_title_platform_fini(void)) {
 
 
 void uv__set_process_title_platform_init(void) {
-#if !TARGET_OS_IPHONE
   OSStatus (*pSetApplicationIsDaemon)(int);
 
+  /* pthread_setname_np() first appeared in OS X 10.6 and iOS 3.2. */
+  *(void **)(&dynamic_pthread_setname_np) =
+      dlsym(RTLD_DEFAULT, "pthread_setname_np");
+
+#if !TARGET_OS_IPHONE
   application_services_handle = dlopen("/System/Library/Frameworks/"
                                        "ApplicationServices.framework/"
                                        "Versions/A/ApplicationServices",
@@ -177,8 +181,6 @@ out:
 
 
 void uv__set_process_title(const char* title) {
-  char namebuf[64 /* MAXTHREADNAMESIZE */];
-
 #if !TARGET_OS_IPHONE
   if (core_foundation_handle != NULL) {
     CFTypeRef asn;
@@ -191,6 +193,9 @@ void uv__set_process_title(const char* title) {
   }
 #endif  /* !TARGET_OS_IPHONE */
 
-  uv__strscpy(namebuf, title, sizeof(namebuf));
-  pthread_setname_np(namebuf);
+  if (dynamic_pthread_setname_np != NULL) {
+    char namebuf[64];  /* MAXTHREADNAMESIZE */
+    uv__strscpy(namebuf, title, sizeof(namebuf));
+    dynamic_pthread_setname_np(namebuf);
+  }
 }