diff --git a/include/mimalloc/internal.h b/include/mimalloc/internal.h
index 5567f09e..ab8c0d28 100644
--- a/include/mimalloc/internal.h
+++ b/include/mimalloc/internal.h
@@ -123,8 +123,6 @@ bool       _mi_arena_memid_is_suitable(mi_memid_t memid, mi_arena_id_t request_a
 bool       _mi_arena_memid_is_os_allocated(mi_memid_t memid);
 void       _mi_arena_collect(bool free_arenas, bool force_decommit, mi_stats_t* stats);
 bool       _mi_arena_contains(const void* p);
-void*      _mi_arena_meta_zalloc(size_t size, mi_memid_t* memid, mi_stats_t* stats);
-void       _mi_arena_meta_free(void* p, size_t size, mi_memid_t memid, mi_stats_t* stats);
 
 // "segment-cache.c"
 void*      _mi_segment_cache_pop(size_t size, mi_commit_mask_t* commit_mask, mi_commit_mask_t* purge_mask, bool large_allowed, bool* large, bool* is_pinned, bool* is_zero, mi_arena_id_t req_arena_id, mi_memid_t* memid, mi_os_tld_t* tld);
diff --git a/src/arena.c b/src/arena.c
index 092d1cb2..0649a485 100644
--- a/src/arena.c
+++ b/src/arena.c
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ static void* mi_arena_static_zalloc(size_t size, size_t alignment, mi_memid_t* m
   return p;
 }
 
-void* _mi_arena_meta_zalloc(size_t size, mi_memid_t* memid, mi_stats_t* stats) {
+static void* mi_arena_meta_zalloc(size_t size, mi_memid_t* memid, mi_stats_t* stats) {
   *memid = mi_arena_memid_none();
 
   // try static
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ void* _mi_arena_meta_zalloc(size_t size, mi_memid_t* memid, mi_stats_t* stats) {
   return NULL;
 }
 
-void _mi_arena_meta_free(void* p, size_t size, mi_memid_t memid, mi_stats_t* stats) {
+static void mi_arena_meta_free(void* p, size_t size, mi_memid_t memid, mi_stats_t* stats) {
   if (memid.memkind == MI_MEM_OS) {
     _mi_os_free(p, size, stats);
   }
@@ -719,7 +719,7 @@ static void mi_arenas_destroy(void) {
         else {
           _mi_os_free(arena->start, mi_arena_size(arena), &_mi_stats_main); 
         }
-        _mi_arena_meta_free(arena, arena->meta_size, arena->meta_memid, &_mi_stats_main);        
+        mi_arena_meta_free(arena, arena->meta_size, arena->meta_memid, &_mi_stats_main);        
       }
       else {
         new_max_arena = i;
@@ -791,7 +791,7 @@ static bool mi_manage_os_memory_ex2(void* start, size_t size, bool is_committed,
   const size_t bitmaps = (allow_decommit ? 4 : 2);
   const size_t asize  = sizeof(mi_arena_t) + (bitmaps*fields*sizeof(mi_bitmap_field_t));
   mi_memid_t meta_memid;
-  mi_arena_t* arena   = (mi_arena_t*)_mi_arena_meta_zalloc(asize, &meta_memid, &_mi_stats_main); // TODO: can we avoid allocating from the OS?
+  mi_arena_t* arena   = (mi_arena_t*)mi_arena_meta_zalloc(asize, &meta_memid, &_mi_stats_main); // TODO: can we avoid allocating from the OS?
   if (arena == NULL) return false;
   
   // already zero'd due to os_alloc
diff --git a/src/init.c b/src/init.c
index 1f5f0524..5fb1ae43 100644
--- a/src/init.c
+++ b/src/init.c
@@ -217,32 +217,34 @@ static _Atomic(mi_thread_data_t*) td_cache[TD_CACHE_SIZE];
 
 static mi_thread_data_t* mi_thread_data_zalloc(void) {
   // try to find thread metadata in the cache
-  mi_thread_data_t* td;
+  bool is_zero = false;
+  mi_thread_data_t* td = NULL;
   for (int i = 0; i < TD_CACHE_SIZE; i++) {
     td = mi_atomic_load_ptr_relaxed(mi_thread_data_t, &td_cache[i]);
     if (td != NULL) {
       // found cached allocation, try use it
       td = mi_atomic_exchange_ptr_acq_rel(mi_thread_data_t, &td_cache[i], NULL);
       if (td != NULL) {
-        _mi_memzero(td, sizeof(*td));
-        return td;
+        break;
       }
     }
   }
 
   // if that fails, allocate as meta data
-  mi_memid_t memid;
-  td = (mi_thread_data_t*)_mi_arena_meta_zalloc(sizeof(mi_thread_data_t), &memid, &_mi_stats_main);
   if (td == NULL) {
-    // if this fails, try once more. (issue #257)
-    td = (mi_thread_data_t*)_mi_arena_meta_zalloc(sizeof(mi_thread_data_t), &memid, &_mi_stats_main);
+    td = (mi_thread_data_t*)_mi_os_alloc(sizeof(mi_thread_data_t), &is_zero, &_mi_stats_main);
     if (td == NULL) {
-      // really out of memory
-      _mi_error_message(ENOMEM, "unable to allocate thread local heap metadata (%zu bytes)\n", sizeof(mi_thread_data_t));
+      // if this fails, try once more. (issue #257)
+      td = (mi_thread_data_t*)_mi_os_alloc(sizeof(mi_thread_data_t), &is_zero, &_mi_stats_main);
+      if (td == NULL) {
+        // really out of memory
+        _mi_error_message(ENOMEM, "unable to allocate thread local heap metadata (%zu bytes)\n", sizeof(mi_thread_data_t));
+      }
     }
   }
-  if (td != NULL) {
-    td->memid = memid;
+  
+  if (td != NULL && !is_zero) {
+    _mi_memzero(td, sizeof(*td));
   }
   return td;
 }
@@ -259,7 +261,7 @@ static void mi_thread_data_free( mi_thread_data_t* tdfree ) {
     }
   }
   // if that fails, just free it directly
-  _mi_arena_meta_free(tdfree, sizeof(mi_thread_data_t), tdfree->memid,  &_mi_stats_main);
+  _mi_os_free(tdfree, sizeof(mi_thread_data_t), &_mi_stats_main);
 }
 
 static void mi_thread_data_collect(void) {