diff --git a/src/error.rs b/src/error.rs
index 5eff99eb..5c4f1c9e 100644
--- a/src/error.rs
+++ b/src/error.rs
@@ -58,6 +58,8 @@ impl Error {
     pub const NODE_ES_MODULE: Error = internal_error(14);
     /// Calling Windows ProcessPrng failed.
     pub const WINDOWS_PROCESS_PRNG: Error = internal_error(15);
+    /// The mutex used when opening the random file was poisoned.
+    pub const UNEXPECTED_FILE_MUTEX_POISONED: Error = internal_error(16);
 
     /// Codes below this point represent OS Errors (i.e. positive i32 values).
     /// Codes at or above this point, but below [`Error::CUSTOM_START`] are
@@ -175,6 +177,7 @@ fn internal_desc(error: Error) -> Option<&'static str> {
         Error::NODE_RANDOM_FILL_SYNC => Some("Calling Node.js API crypto.randomFillSync failed"),
         Error::NODE_ES_MODULE => Some("Node.js ES modules are not directly supported, see https://docs.rs/getrandom#nodejs-es-module-support"),
         Error::WINDOWS_PROCESS_PRNG => Some("ProcessPrng: Windows system function failure"),
+        Error::UNEXPECTED_FILE_MUTEX_POISONED => Some("File: Initialization panicked, poisoning the mutex"),
         _ => None,
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/use_file.rs b/src/use_file.rs
index 3e08625f..4587fde5 100644
--- a/src/use_file.rs
+++ b/src/use_file.rs
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ extern crate std;
 
 use crate::{util_libc::sys_fill_exact, Error};
 use core::{
-    cell::UnsafeCell,
     ffi::c_void,
     mem::MaybeUninit,
     sync::atomic::{AtomicI32, Ordering::Relaxed},
@@ -14,6 +13,7 @@ use std::{
     io,
     // TODO(MSRV 1.66): use `std::os::fd` instead of `std::unix::io`.
     os::unix::io::{AsRawFd as _, BorrowedFd, IntoRawFd as _, RawFd},
+    sync::{Mutex, PoisonError},
 };
 
 /// For all platforms, we use `/dev/urandom` rather than `/dev/random`.
@@ -58,11 +58,10 @@ fn get_rng_fd() -> Result<BorrowedFd<'static>, Error> {
 
     #[cold]
     fn get_fd_locked() -> Result<BorrowedFd<'static>, Error> {
-        // SAFETY: We use the mutex only in this method, and we always unlock it
-        // before returning, making sure we don't violate the pthread_mutex_t API.
-        static MUTEX: Mutex = Mutex::new();
-        unsafe { MUTEX.lock() };
-        let _guard = DropGuard(|| unsafe { MUTEX.unlock() });
+        static MUTEX: Mutex<()> = Mutex::new(());
+        let _guard = MUTEX
+            .lock()
+            .map_err(|_: PoisonError<_>| Error::UNEXPECTED_FILE_MUTEX_POISONED)?;
 
         if let Some(fd) = get_fd() {
             return Ok(fd);
@@ -158,29 +157,3 @@ fn map_io_error(err: io::Error) -> Error {
             }
         })
 }
-
-struct Mutex(UnsafeCell<libc::pthread_mutex_t>);
-
-impl Mutex {
-    const fn new() -> Self {
-        Self(UnsafeCell::new(libc::PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER))
-    }
-    unsafe fn lock(&self) {
-        let r = libc::pthread_mutex_lock(self.0.get());
-        debug_assert_eq!(r, 0);
-    }
-    unsafe fn unlock(&self) {
-        let r = libc::pthread_mutex_unlock(self.0.get());
-        debug_assert_eq!(r, 0);
-    }
-}
-
-unsafe impl Sync for Mutex {}
-
-struct DropGuard<F: FnMut()>(F);
-
-impl<F: FnMut()> Drop for DropGuard<F> {
-    fn drop(&mut self) {
-        self.0()
-    }
-}