diff --git a/include/tscpp/util/AltMutex.h b/include/tscpp/util/AltMutex.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c7d69eecdb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/tscpp/util/AltMutex.h
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+/** @file
+
+   An alternative to std::mutex for low contention mutual exclusion.  Uses one unsigned int as data.
+   (sizof(std::mutex) == 40 for gcc on x86.) Locking/unlocking will be very fast when there is no
+   contention.  When there is contention, the latency to get the lock after it is unlocked by another
+   thread wil likely be longer (on the order of 10ms).  If the wait for the lock exceeds a timer tick,
+   there will likely be unnecessary context switching between threads.
+
+   @section license License
+
+   Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+   or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+   distributed with this work for additional information
+   regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+   to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+   "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+   with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+   limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <atomic>
+#include <thread>
+#include <chrono>
+
+#include <tscore/ink_assert.h>
+
+namespace ts
+{
+class AltMutex
+{
+public:
+  bool try_lock() noexcept;
+
+  // WARNING:  Not recursive.
+  //
+  void lock();
+
+  void unlock() noexcept;
+
+  // Notes:  all 3 member functions act as a strong memory fence.  The atomic data member suppresses
+  // copying/moving member functions.
+
+private:
+  // This is incremented on locking and unlocking, so it is odd when the lock is locked.
+  //
+  std::atomic<unsigned> lock_count{0};
+};
+
+inline bool
+AltMutex::try_lock() noexcept
+{
+  unsigned lc = lock_count;
+
+  if (lc & 1) {
+    // Already locked.
+    //
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  return lock_count.compare_exchange_strong(lc, lc + 1);
+}
+
+inline void
+AltMutex::lock()
+{
+  unsigned tries = 0;
+
+  for (;;) {
+    if (try_lock()) {
+      break;
+    }
+
+    ++tries;
+
+    if (tries < 20) {
+      std::this_thread::yield();
+
+    } else {
+      // Failsafe check for deadlock.
+      //
+      ink_release_assert(tries < 50000);
+
+      // This may be a case of priority inversion, sleep to ensure the thread holding the lock can run.
+      //
+      std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(10));
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+inline void
+AltMutex::unlock() noexcept
+{
+  if (lock_count & 1) {
+    ++lock_count;
+
+  } else {
+    ink_assert(false);
+  }
+}
+
+} // end namespace ts
diff --git a/include/tscpp/util/Makefile.am b/include/tscpp/util/Makefile.am
index 3424e6556d2..6eb24a03a19 100644
--- a/include/tscpp/util/Makefile.am
+++ b/include/tscpp/util/Makefile.am
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 library_includedir=$(includedir)/tscpp/util
 
 library_include_HEADERS = \
+	AltMutex.h \
 	IntrusiveDList.h \
 	LocalBuffer.h \
 	PostScript.h \
diff --git a/src/tscpp/util/Makefile.am b/src/tscpp/util/Makefile.am
index 07351fde45c..0ce14714bc6 100644
--- a/src/tscpp/util/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/tscpp/util/Makefile.am
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ test_tscpputil_CXXFLAGS = -Wno-array-bounds $(AM_CXXFLAGS)
 test_tscpputil_LDADD = libtscpputil.la
 test_tscpputil_SOURCES = \
 	unit_tests/unit_test_main.cc \
+	unit_tests/test_AltMutex.cc \
 	unit_tests/test_LocalBuffer.cc \
 	unit_tests/test_MemSpan.cc \
 	unit_tests/test_PostScript.cc \
diff --git a/src/tscpp/util/unit_tests/test_AltMutex.cc b/src/tscpp/util/unit_tests/test_AltMutex.cc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0eba230ca6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tscpp/util/unit_tests/test_AltMutex.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+/** @file
+
+    Unit tests for AltMutex.h.
+
+    @section license License
+
+    Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+    or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+    distributed with this work for additional information
+    regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+    to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+    "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+    with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+    WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+    See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+    limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+#include <cstdlib>
+
+#include <catch.hpp>
+#include <tscpp/util/AltMutex.h>
+
+namespace
+{
+int i{0};
+
+ts::AltMutex mtx;
+
+void
+incr_i(int wait_value)
+{
+  bool done = false;
+
+  do {
+    mtx.lock();
+
+    if (i == wait_value) {
+      ++i;
+      done = true;
+    }
+
+    mtx.unlock();
+
+  } while (!done);
+}
+
+void
+thread2()
+{
+  incr_i(1);
+}
+
+void
+thread3()
+{
+  incr_i(2);
+}
+
+} // end anonymous namespace
+
+void
+_ink_assert(char const *, char const *, int)
+{
+  std::exit(1);
+}
+
+TEST_CASE("AltMutex", "[AM]")
+{
+  std::thread t2(thread2);
+  std::thread t3(thread3);
+
+  incr_i(0);
+
+  t2.join();
+  t3.join();
+
+  REQUIRE(i == 3);
+}