diff --git a/src/rendering/render.c b/src/rendering/render.c
index 5dcdaf6..72bf829 100644
--- a/src/rendering/render.c
+++ b/src/rendering/render.c
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include "camera.h"
 #include "system.h"
 #include "PictureFile.h"
+#include "Thread.h"
 
 typedef struct
 {
diff --git a/src/rendering/renderer.c b/src/rendering/renderer.c
index 60bf678..704e195 100644
--- a/src/rendering/renderer.c
+++ b/src/rendering/renderer.c
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include "render.h"
 #include "scenery.h"
 #include "tools.h"
+#include "Thread.h"
 
 static RayCastingResult _RAYCASTING_NULL = {0};
 
diff --git a/src/rendering/system.h b/src/rendering/system.h
index 5bda037..1515c15 100644
--- a/src/rendering/system.h
+++ b/src/rendering/system.h
@@ -9,8 +9,6 @@
 extern "C" {
 #endif
 
-typedef void* (*ThreadFunction)(void* data);
-
 void systemInit();
 int systemGetCoreCount();
 
@@ -19,23 +17,6 @@ int systemGetFileSize(const char* path);
 #ifdef HAVE_GLIB
 #include <glib.h>
 
-typedef GThread Thread;
-
-static inline Thread* threadCreate(ThreadFunction function, void* data)
-{
-#ifdef GLIB_VERSION_2_32
-    return g_thread_new("thread", (GThreadFunc)function, data);
-#else
-    GError* error;
-    return g_thread_create((GThreadFunc)function, data, 1, &error);
-#endif
-}
-
-static inline void* threadJoin(Thread* thread)
-{
-    return g_thread_join(thread);
-}
-
 typedef GMutex Mutex;
 
 static inline Mutex* mutexCreate()
diff --git a/src/rendering/tools/parallel.c b/src/rendering/tools/parallel.c
index f72156c..52f74b9 100644
--- a/src/rendering/tools/parallel.c
+++ b/src/rendering/tools/parallel.c
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 #include <assert.h>
 #include "../system.h"
+#include "Thread.h"
 
 #define PARALLEL_MAX_THREADS 20
 
diff --git a/src/system/PictureFile.cpp b/src/system/PictureFile.cpp
index afcdb07..4db268d 100644
--- a/src/system/PictureFile.cpp
+++ b/src/system/PictureFile.cpp
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ PictureFile::PictureFile()
 {
 }
 
+// Transitional C-API
+
 int systemSavePictureFile(const char* filepath, PictureCallbackSavePixel callback_pixel, void* data, int width, int height)
 {
     QImage result(width, height, QImage::Format_ARGB32);
diff --git a/src/system/PictureFile.h b/src/system/PictureFile.h
index 727a0a4..0b8f2c1 100644
--- a/src/system/PictureFile.h
+++ b/src/system/PictureFile.h
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 #ifndef PICTUREFILE_H
 #define PICTUREFILE_H
 
-#ifdef __cplusplus
 #include "system_global.h"
 
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+
 namespace paysages
 {
 namespace system
diff --git a/src/system/Thread.cpp b/src/system/Thread.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e2d5590
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/system/Thread.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+#include "Thread.h"
+
+Thread::Thread(ThreadFunction function):
+    function(function), data(0), result(0)
+{
+}
+
+void Thread::start(void* data)
+{
+    this->data = data;
+    QThread::start();
+}
+
+void* Thread::join()
+{
+    QThread::wait();
+    return result;
+}
+
+void Thread::run()
+{
+    result = function(data);
+}
+
+// Transitional C-API
+
+Thread* threadCreate(ThreadFunction function, void* data)
+{
+    Thread* result = new Thread(function);
+
+    result->start(data);
+
+    return result;
+}
+
+void* threadJoin(Thread* thread)
+{
+    void* result;
+
+    result = thread->join();
+
+    delete thread;
+
+    return result;
+}
diff --git a/src/system/Thread.h b/src/system/Thread.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6701681
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/system/Thread.h
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+#ifndef THREAD_H
+#define THREAD_H
+
+#include "system_global.h"
+
+typedef void* (*ThreadFunction)(void* data);
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+
+#include <QThread>
+
+namespace paysages
+{
+namespace system
+{
+
+/*!
+ * \brief System thread
+ */
+class Thread: private QThread
+{
+public:
+    /*!
+     * \brief Create a new thread
+     * \param function Function to call inside the thread once it is started
+     *
+     * The thread is not started automatically. A call to method start() needs to be done.
+     */
+    Thread(ThreadFunction function);
+
+    /*!
+     * \brief Start the thread
+     * \param data User data to pass to the threaded function
+     */
+    void start(void* data);
+
+    /*!
+     * \brief Wait for the thread to end, and collect its result.
+     * \return The value returned by the threaded function.
+     */
+    void* join();
+
+protected:
+    virtual void run();
+
+private:
+    ThreadFunction function;
+    void* data;
+    void* result;
+};
+
+}
+}
+
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+// Transitional C-API
+
+#ifndef __cplusplus
+typedef struct Thread Thread;
+#endif
+
+Thread* threadCreate(ThreadFunction function, void* data);
+void* threadJoin(Thread* thread);
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+
+#endif // THREAD_H
diff --git a/src/system/system.pro b/src/system/system.pro
index 6fb74de..bf2a8dc 100644
--- a/src/system/system.pro
+++ b/src/system/system.pro
@@ -12,11 +12,13 @@ TEMPLATE = lib
 DEFINES += SYSTEM_LIBRARY
 
 SOURCES += \
-    PictureFile.cpp
+    PictureFile.cpp \
+    Thread.cpp
 
 HEADERS +=\
         system_global.h \
-    PictureFile.h
+    PictureFile.h \
+    Thread.h
 
 unix:!symbian {
     maemo5 {
diff --git a/src/system/system_global.h b/src/system/system_global.h
index 5b4e693..0e02f0c 100644
--- a/src/system/system_global.h
+++ b/src/system/system_global.h
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #ifndef SYSTEM_GLOBAL_H
 #define SYSTEM_GLOBAL_H
 
+#ifdef __cplusplus
 #include <QtCore/qglobal.h>
 
 #if defined(SYSTEM_LIBRARY)
@@ -9,7 +10,6 @@
 #  define SYSTEMSHARED_EXPORT Q_DECL_IMPORT
 #endif
 
-#ifdef __cplusplus
 namespace paysages
 {
     namespace system {}