diff --git a/include/mimalloc/internal.h b/include/mimalloc/internal.h
index 9c5eb362..aab7dffe 100644
--- a/include/mimalloc/internal.h
+++ b/include/mimalloc/internal.h
@@ -547,16 +547,16 @@ static inline mi_page_t* _mi_unchecked_ptr_page(const void* p) {
 // 2-level page map:
 // double indirection, but low commit and low virtual reserve.
 //
-// the page-map is usually 4 MiB (for 48 bits virtual addresses) and points to sub maps of 64 KiB.
+// the page-map is usually 4 MiB (for 48 bit virtual addresses) and points to sub maps of 64 KiB.
 // the page-map is committed on-demand (in 64 KiB parts) (and sub-maps are committed on-demand as well)
 // one sub page-map = 64 KiB => covers 2^(16-3) * 2^16 = 2^29 = 512 MiB address space
-// the page-map needs 48-(16+13) = 19 bits => 2^19 sub map pointers = 4 MiB size.
+// the page-map needs 48-(16+13) = 19 bits => 2^19 sub map pointers = 2^22 bytes = 4 MiB reserved size.
 #define MI_PAGE_MAP_SUB_SHIFT     (13)
 #define MI_PAGE_MAP_SUB_COUNT     (MI_ZU(1) << MI_PAGE_MAP_SUB_SHIFT)
 #define MI_PAGE_MAP_SHIFT         (MI_MAX_VABITS - MI_PAGE_MAP_SUB_SHIFT - MI_ARENA_SLICE_SHIFT)
 #define MI_PAGE_MAP_COUNT         (MI_ZU(1) << MI_PAGE_MAP_SHIFT)
 
-extern mi_decl_hidden mi_page_t*** _mi_page_map;
+extern mi_decl_hidden _Atomic(mi_page_t**)* _mi_page_map;
 
 static inline size_t _mi_page_map_index(const void* p, size_t* sub_idx) {
   const size_t u = (size_t)((uintptr_t)p / MI_ARENA_SLICE_SIZE);
@@ -564,16 +564,20 @@ static inline size_t _mi_page_map_index(const void* p, size_t* sub_idx) {
   return (u / MI_PAGE_MAP_SUB_COUNT);
 }
 
+static inline mi_page_t** _mi_page_map_at(size_t idx) {
+  return mi_atomic_load_ptr_relaxed(mi_page_t*, &_mi_page_map[idx]);
+}
+
 static inline mi_page_t* _mi_unchecked_ptr_page(const void* p) {
   size_t sub_idx;
   const size_t idx = _mi_page_map_index(p, &sub_idx);
-  return _mi_page_map[idx][sub_idx];  // NULL if p==NULL
+  return (_mi_page_map_at(idx))[sub_idx];  // NULL if p==NULL
 }
 
 static inline mi_page_t* _mi_checked_ptr_page(const void* p) {
   size_t sub_idx;
   const size_t idx = _mi_page_map_index(p, &sub_idx);
-  mi_page_t** const sub = _mi_page_map[idx];
+  mi_page_t** const sub = _mi_page_map_at(idx);
   if mi_unlikely(sub == NULL) return NULL;
   return sub[sub_idx];
 }
diff --git a/src/page-map.c b/src/page-map.c
index c8686924..48ac47d2 100644
--- a/src/page-map.c
+++ b/src/page-map.c
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ void _mi_page_map_unsafe_destroy(void) {
   _mi_page_map = NULL;
   mi_page_map_commit = NULL;
   mi_page_map_max_address = NULL;
-  mi_page_map_memid = _mi_memid_none();  
+  mi_page_map_memid = _mi_memid_none();
 }
 
 
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ mi_decl_nodiscard mi_decl_export bool mi_is_in_heap_region(const void* p) mi_att
 // A 2-level page map
 #define MI_PAGE_MAP_SUB_SIZE    (MI_PAGE_MAP_SUB_COUNT * sizeof(mi_page_t*))
 
-mi_decl_cache_align mi_page_t*** _mi_page_map;
+mi_decl_cache_align _Atomic(mi_page_t**)* _mi_page_map;
 static size_t       mi_page_map_count;
 static void*        mi_page_map_max_address;
 static mi_memid_t   mi_page_map_memid;
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ bool _mi_page_map_init(void) {
   const size_t reserve_size = page_map_size + os_page_size;
   const bool commit = page_map_size <= 64*MI_KiB ||
                       mi_option_is_enabled(mi_option_pagemap_commit) || _mi_os_has_overcommit();
-  _mi_page_map = (mi_page_t***)_mi_os_alloc_aligned(reserve_size, 1, commit, true /* allow large */, &mi_page_map_memid);
+  _mi_page_map = (_Atomic(mi_page_t**)*)_mi_os_alloc_aligned(reserve_size, 1, commit, true /* allow large */, &mi_page_map_memid);
   if (_mi_page_map==NULL) {
     _mi_error_message(ENOMEM, "unable to reserve virtual memory for the page map (%zu KiB)\n", page_map_size / MI_KiB);
     return false;
@@ -236,11 +236,11 @@ void _mi_page_map_unsafe_destroy(void) {
   for (size_t idx = 1; idx < mi_page_map_count; idx++) {  // skip entry 0
     // free all sub-maps
     if (mi_page_map_is_committed(idx, NULL)) {
-      mi_page_t** sub = _mi_page_map[idx];
+      mi_page_t** sub = _mi_page_map_at(idx);
       if (sub != NULL) {
         mi_memid_t memid = _mi_memid_create_os(sub, MI_PAGE_MAP_SUB_COUNT * sizeof(mi_page_t*), true, false, false);
         _mi_os_free(memid.mem.os.base, memid.mem.os.size, memid);
-        _mi_page_map[idx] = NULL;
+        mi_atomic_store_ptr_release(mi_page_t*, &_mi_page_map[idx], NULL);
       }
     }
   }
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ static mi_page_t** mi_page_map_ensure_committed(size_t idx) {
     _mi_os_commit(start, MI_PAGE_MAP_ENTRIES_PER_CBIT * sizeof(mi_page_t**), NULL);
     mi_atomic_or_acq_rel(&mi_page_map_commit, MI_ZU(1) << bit_idx);
   }
-  return _mi_page_map[idx];
+  return mi_atomic_load_ptr_acquire(mi_page_t*, &_mi_page_map[idx]); // _mi_page_map_at(idx);
 }
 
 static mi_page_t** mi_page_map_ensure_at(size_t idx) {
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ static mi_page_t** mi_page_map_ensure_at(size_t idx) {
     if (!memid.initially_zero) {
       _mi_memzero_aligned(sub, submap_size);
     }
-    if (!mi_atomic_cas_ptr_strong_acq_rel(mi_page_t*, ((_Atomic(mi_page_t**)*)&_mi_page_map[idx]), &expect, sub)) {
+    if (!mi_atomic_cas_ptr_strong_acq_rel(mi_page_t*, &_mi_page_map[idx], &expect, sub)) {
       // another thread already allocated it.. free and continue
       _mi_os_free(sub, submap_size, memid);
       sub = expect;