diff --git a/ext/jack/gstjack.c b/ext/jack/gstjack.c
index ca98dc4059..fdd507d872 100644
--- a/ext/jack/gstjack.c
+++ b/ext/jack/gstjack.c
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 GType
 gst_jack_connect_get_type (void)
 {
-  static volatile gsize jack_connect_type = 0;
+  static gsize jack_connect_type = 0;
 
   if (g_once_init_enter (&jack_connect_type)) {
     static const GEnumValue jack_connect_enums[] = {
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ gst_jack_connect_get_type (void)
 GType
 gst_jack_transport_get_type (void)
 {
-  static volatile gsize type = 0;
+  static gsize type = 0;
 
   if (g_once_init_enter (&type)) {
     static const GFlagsValue flag_values[] = {
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ gst_jack_client_free (gpointer jclient)
 GType
 gst_jack_client_get_type (void)
 {
-  static volatile gsize jack_client_type = 0;
+  static gsize jack_client_type = 0;
 
   if (g_once_init_enter (&jack_client_type)) {
     /* hackish, but makes it show up nicely in gst-inspect */
diff --git a/ext/jack/gstjackaudiosink.c b/ext/jack/gstjackaudiosink.c
index ee7cea8c06..6e8d04ae5b 100644
--- a/ext/jack/gstjackaudiosink.c
+++ b/ext/jack/gstjackaudiosink.c
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ gst_jack_audio_sink_free_channels (GstJackAudioSink * sink)
 static GType
 gst_jack_ring_buffer_get_type (void)
 {
-  static volatile gsize ringbuffer_type = 0;
+  static gsize ringbuffer_type = 0;
 
   if (g_once_init_enter (&ringbuffer_type)) {
     static const GTypeInfo ringbuffer_info = {
diff --git a/ext/jack/gstjackaudiosrc.c b/ext/jack/gstjackaudiosrc.c
index 1d2cf82ee6..d43a447a76 100644
--- a/ext/jack/gstjackaudiosrc.c
+++ b/ext/jack/gstjackaudiosrc.c
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ gst_jack_audio_src_free_channels (GstJackAudioSrc * src)
 static GType
 gst_jack_ring_buffer_get_type (void)
 {
-  static volatile gsize ringbuffer_type = 0;
+  static gsize ringbuffer_type = 0;
 
   if (g_once_init_enter (&ringbuffer_type)) {
     static const GTypeInfo ringbuffer_info = { sizeof (GstJackRingBufferClass),
diff --git a/ext/pulse/pulsesink.h b/ext/pulse/pulsesink.h
index 86f3dcdbb7..51ec86a25a 100644
--- a/ext/pulse/pulsesink.h
+++ b/ext/pulse/pulsesink.h
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ struct _GstPulseSink
   GstStructure *properties;
   pa_proplist *proplist;
 
-  volatile gint format_lost;
+  gint format_lost;
   GstClockTime format_lost_time;
 };
 
diff --git a/ext/qt/gstqsgtexture.cc b/ext/qt/gstqsgtexture.cc
index 1f0a2e6e15..00e2ddad0e 100644
--- a/ext/qt/gstqsgtexture.cc
+++ b/ext/qt/gstqsgtexture.cc
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ GST_DEBUG_CATEGORY_STATIC (GST_CAT_DEFAULT);
 
 GstQSGTexture::GstQSGTexture ()
 {
-  static volatile gsize _debug;
+  static gsize _debug;
 
   initializeOpenGLFunctions();
 
diff --git a/ext/qt/gstqtglutility.cc b/ext/qt/gstqtglutility.cc
index acb89b6e1e..d2c092202b 100644
--- a/ext/qt/gstqtglutility.cc
+++ b/ext/qt/gstqtglutility.cc
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ gst_qt_get_gl_display ()
 {
   GstGLDisplay *display = NULL;
   QGuiApplication *app = static_cast<QGuiApplication *> (QCoreApplication::instance ());
-  static volatile gsize _debug;
+  static gsize _debug;
 
   g_assert (app != NULL);
 
diff --git a/ext/qt/qtglrenderer.cc b/ext/qt/qtglrenderer.cc
index 2ad5601fc3..52965fd0bd 100644
--- a/ext/qt/qtglrenderer.cc
+++ b/ext/qt/qtglrenderer.cc
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ GST_DEBUG_CATEGORY_STATIC (GST_CAT_DEFAULT);
 static void
 init_debug (void)
 {
-  static volatile gsize _debug;
+  static gsize _debug;
 
   if (g_once_init_enter (&_debug)) {
     GST_DEBUG_CATEGORY_INIT (GST_CAT_DEFAULT, "qtglrenderer", 0,
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ typedef enum
 
 struct SharedRenderData
 {
-  volatile int refcount;
+  int refcount;
   SharedRenderDataState state;
   GMutex lock;
   GCond cond;
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ shared_render_data_new (void)
 {
   struct SharedRenderData *ret = g_new0 (struct SharedRenderData, 1);
 
-  ret->refcount = 1;
+  g_atomic_int_set (&ret->refcount, 1);
   g_mutex_init (&ret->lock);
 
   return ret;
diff --git a/ext/qt/qtitem.cc b/ext/qt/qtitem.cc
index 2869ea92b0..da2b701908 100644
--- a/ext/qt/qtitem.cc
+++ b/ext/qt/qtitem.cc
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ void InitializeSceneGraph::run()
 
 QtGLVideoItem::QtGLVideoItem()
 {
-  static volatile gsize _debug;
+  static gsize _debug;
 
   if (g_once_init_enter (&_debug)) {
     GST_DEBUG_CATEGORY_INIT (GST_CAT_DEFAULT, "qtglwidget", 0, "Qt GL Widget");
diff --git a/ext/qt/qtwindow.cc b/ext/qt/qtwindow.cc
index 9360c3337f..7c44ac54eb 100644
--- a/ext/qt/qtwindow.cc
+++ b/ext/qt/qtwindow.cc
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ QtGLWindow::QtGLWindow ( QWindow * parent, QQuickWindow *src ) :
   QQuickWindow( parent ), source (src)
 {
   QGuiApplication *app = static_cast<QGuiApplication *> (QCoreApplication::instance ());
-  static volatile gsize _debug;
+  static gsize _debug;
 
   g_assert (app != NULL);
 
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ QtGLWindow::beforeRendering()
 
   g_mutex_lock (&this->priv->lock);
 
-  static volatile gsize once = 0;
+  static gsize once = 0;
   if (g_once_init_enter(&once)) {
     this->priv->start = QDateTime::currentDateTime().toMSecsSinceEpoch();
     g_once_init_leave(&once,1);
diff --git a/ext/vpx/gstvpxdec.c b/ext/vpx/gstvpxdec.c
index 19a24870c4..adf842813b 100644
--- a/ext/vpx/gstvpxdec.c
+++ b/ext/vpx/gstvpxdec.c
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ gst_vpx_dec_post_processing_flags_get_type (void)
     {C_FLAGS (VP8_MFQE), "Multi-frame quality enhancement", "mfqe"},
     {0, NULL, NULL}
   };
-  static volatile GType id = 0;
+  static GType id = 0;
 
   if (g_once_init_enter ((gsize *) & id)) {
     GType _id;
diff --git a/ext/vpx/gstvpxenc.c b/ext/vpx/gstvpxenc.c
index 29c2e5902a..0ccaf27022 100644
--- a/ext/vpx/gstvpxenc.c
+++ b/ext/vpx/gstvpxenc.c
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ gst_vpx_enc_end_usage_get_type (void)
     {VPX_CQ, "Constant Quality Mode (CQ) mode", "cq"},
     {0, NULL, NULL}
   };
-  static volatile GType id = 0;
+  static GType id = 0;
 
   if (g_once_init_enter ((gsize *) & id)) {
     GType _id;
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ gst_vpx_enc_multipass_mode_get_type (void)
     {VPX_RC_LAST_PASS, "Last pass of multipass encoding", "last-pass"},
     {0, NULL, NULL}
   };
-  static volatile GType id = 0;
+  static GType id = 0;
 
   if (g_once_init_enter ((gsize *) & id)) {
     GType _id;
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ gst_vpx_enc_kf_mode_get_type (void)
     {VPX_KF_DISABLED, "Don't automatically place keyframes", "disabled"},
     {0, NULL, NULL}
   };
-  static volatile GType id = 0;
+  static GType id = 0;
 
   if (g_once_init_enter ((gsize *) & id)) {
     GType _id;
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ gst_vpx_enc_tuning_get_type (void)
     {VP8_TUNE_SSIM, "Tune for SSIM", "ssim"},
     {0, NULL, NULL}
   };
-  static volatile GType id = 0;
+  static GType id = 0;
 
   if (g_once_init_enter ((gsize *) & id)) {
     GType _id;
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ gst_vpx_enc_scaling_mode_get_type (void)
     {VP8E_ONETWO, "1:2", "1:2"},
     {0, NULL, NULL}
   };
-  static volatile GType id = 0;
+  static GType id = 0;
 
   if (g_once_init_enter ((gsize *) & id)) {
     GType _id;
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ gst_vpx_enc_token_partitions_get_type (void)
     {VP8_EIGHT_TOKENPARTITION, "Eight token partitions", "8"},
     {0, NULL, NULL}
   };
-  static volatile GType id = 0;
+  static GType id = 0;
 
   if (g_once_init_enter ((gsize *) & id)) {
     GType _id;
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ gst_vpx_enc_er_flags_get_type (void)
         "Allow partitions to be decoded independently", "partitions"},
     {0, NULL, NULL}
   };
-  static volatile GType id = 0;
+  static GType id = 0;
 
   if (g_once_init_enter ((gsize *) & id)) {
     GType _id;
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ gst_vpx_enc_ts_layer_flags_get_type (void)
     {VP8_EFLAG_NO_UPD_ENTROPY, "Disable entropy update", "no-upd-entropy"},
     {0, NULL, NULL}
   };
-  static volatile GType id = 0;
+  static GType id = 0;
 
   if (g_once_init_enter ((gsize *) & id)) {
     GType _id;
diff --git a/gst/audioparsers/gstac3parse.h b/gst/audioparsers/gstac3parse.h
index 0e7af5acd7..81e2104d5e 100644
--- a/gst/audioparsers/gstac3parse.h
+++ b/gst/audioparsers/gstac3parse.h
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ struct _GstAc3Parse {
   gint                  blocks;
   gboolean              eac;
   gboolean              sent_codec_tag;
-  volatile gint         align;
+  gint                  align;
   GstPadChainFunction   baseparse_chainfunc;
 };
 
diff --git a/sys/rpicamsrc/gstrpicamsrc.c b/sys/rpicamsrc/gstrpicamsrc.c
index 2aa28f4883..6ab6016314 100644
--- a/sys/rpicamsrc/gstrpicamsrc.c
+++ b/sys/rpicamsrc/gstrpicamsrc.c
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ gst_rpi_cam_src_sensor_mode_get_type (void)
         "640x480 4:3 60.1-90fps", "640x480-fast"},
     {0, NULL, NULL}
   };
-  static volatile GType id = 0;
+  static GType id = 0;
   if (g_once_init_enter ((gsize *) & id)) {
     GType _id;
     _id = g_enum_register_static ("GstRpiCamSrcSensorMode", values);
diff --git a/sys/ximage/ximageutil.c b/sys/ximage/ximageutil.c
index 57c9392c79..018b605156 100644
--- a/sys/ximage/ximageutil.c
+++ b/sys/ximage/ximageutil.c
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
 GType
 gst_meta_ximage_api_get_type (void)
 {
-  static volatile GType type;
+  static GType type;
   static const gchar *tags[] = { "memory", NULL };
 
   if (g_once_init_enter (&type)) {