diff --git a/src/support/tests/check_trivstring.cpp b/src/support/tests/check_trivstring.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e6a23d5603
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/support/tests/check_trivstring.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+#include <config.h>
+
+#include "../trivstring.h"
+
+#include <iostream>
+
+
+using namespace lyx;
+
+using namespace std;
+
+void test_trivstring()
+{
+	string const input[] = {
+		"",
+		"a",
+		"42",
+		"max sso", // max. string with sso on 64 bit
+		"something which does not fit into sso"
+	};
+	size_t const n = sizeof(input) / sizeof(input[0]);
+	for (size_t i = 0; i < n; ++i) {
+		// construction from std::string
+		trivstring const a(input[i]);
+		// construction from trivstring
+		trivstring const b(a);
+		// assignment from trivstring
+		trivstring const c = a;
+		// assignment from std::string
+		trivstring const d = input[i];
+		// assignment from trivstring
+		string const e = a.str();
+		// assignment from trivstring via C string
+		string const f = a.c_str();
+		cout << a.length() << endl;
+		cout << a.str() << endl;
+		cout << b.str() << endl;
+		cout << c.str() << endl;
+		cout << d.str() << endl;
+		cout << e << endl;
+		cout << f << endl;
+	}
+}
+
+int main()
+{
+	test_trivstring();
+}
diff --git a/src/support/tests/regfiles/trivstring b/src/support/tests/regfiles/trivstring
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e23bd5526c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/support/tests/regfiles/trivstring
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+0
+
+
+
+
+
+
+1
+a
+a
+a
+a
+a
+a
+2
+42
+42
+42
+42
+42
+42
+7
+max sso
+max sso
+max sso
+max sso
+max sso
+max sso
+37
+something which does not fit into sso
+something which does not fit into sso
+something which does not fit into sso
+something which does not fit into sso
+something which does not fit into sso
+something which does not fit into sso
diff --git a/src/support/tests/test_trivstring b/src/support/tests/test_trivstring
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..6e57bb1e62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/support/tests/test_trivstring
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+regfile=`cat ${srcdir}/tests/regfiles/trivstring`
+output=`./check_trivstring`
+
+test "$regfile" = "$output"
+exit $?
diff --git a/src/support/trivstring.cpp b/src/support/trivstring.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..71085ee04e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/support/trivstring.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,180 @@
+/**
+ * \file trivstring.cpp
+ * This file is part of LyX, the document processor.
+ * Licence details can be found in the file COPYING.
+ *
+ * \author Georg Baum
+ *
+ * Full author contact details are available in file CREDITS.
+ */
+
+#include <config.h>
+
+#include "support/trivstring.h"
+#include "support/docstring.h"
+
+#include <algorithm>
+
+using namespace std;
+
+namespace lyx {
+
+template trivial_string<char>::trivial_string(trivial_string const &);
+template trivial_string<char_type>::trivial_string(trivial_string const &);
+template<typename Char>
+trivial_string<Char>::trivial_string(trivial_string const & that) : size_(that.size_)
+{
+	if (use_sso())
+		copy(that.data_sso(), that.data_sso() + size_ + 1, data_sso());
+	else if (size_ > 0) {
+		data_ = new Char[size_ + 1];
+		copy(that.data_, that.data_ + size_ + 1, data_);
+	}
+	// else Happens only for really big Char types
+}
+
+
+template trivial_string<char>::trivial_string(string const &);
+template trivial_string<char_type>::trivial_string(docstring const &);
+template<typename Char>
+trivial_string<Char>::trivial_string(
+		basic_string<Char, char_traits<Char>, allocator<Char> > const & that)
+	: size_(that.length())
+{
+	if (use_sso()) {
+		copy(that.begin(), that.end(), data_sso());
+		data_sso()[size_] = '\0';
+	} else if (size_ > 0) {
+		data_ = new Char[size_ + 1];
+		copy(that.begin(), that.end(), data_);
+		data_[size_] = '\0';
+	}
+	// else Happens only for really big Char types
+}
+
+
+template trivial_string<char> &
+trivial_string<char>::operator=(trivial_string const &);
+template trivial_string<char_type> &
+trivial_string<char_type>::operator=(trivial_string const &);
+template<typename Char>
+trivial_string<Char> & trivial_string<Char>::operator=(trivial_string const & that)
+{
+	if (&that == this)
+		return *this;
+	if (!use_sso())
+		delete[] data_;
+	size_ = that.size_;
+	if (use_sso())
+		copy(that.data_sso(), that.data_sso() + size_ + 1, data_sso());
+	else if (size_ > 0) {
+		data_ = new Char[size_ + 1];
+		copy(that.data_, that.data_ + size_ + 1, data_);
+	} else {
+		// Happens only for really big Char types
+		data_ = 0;
+	}
+	return *this;
+}
+
+
+template trivial_string<char> &
+trivial_string<char>::operator=(string const &);
+template trivial_string<char_type> &
+trivial_string<char_type>::operator=(docstring const &);
+template<typename Char>
+trivial_string<Char> &
+trivial_string<Char>::operator=(basic_string<Char, char_traits<Char>, allocator<Char> > const & that)
+{
+	if (!use_sso())
+		delete[] data_;
+	size_ = that.size();
+	if (use_sso()) {
+		copy(that.begin(), that.end(), data_sso());
+		data_sso()[size_] = '\0';
+	} else if (size_ > 0) {
+		data_ = new Char[size_ + 1];
+		copy(that.begin(), that.end(), data_);
+	} else {
+		// Happens only for really big Char types
+		data_ = 0;
+	}
+	return *this;
+}
+
+
+template void
+trivial_string<char>::swap(trivial_string<char> &);
+template void
+trivial_string<char_type>::swap(trivial_string<char_type> &);
+template<typename Char>
+void trivial_string<Char>::swap(trivial_string & that)
+{
+	size_t const sizetmp = that.size_;
+	that.size_ = size_;
+	size_ = sizetmp;
+	Char * const datatmp = that.data_;
+	that.data_ = data_;
+	data_ = datatmp;
+}
+
+
+template<typename Char>
+int trivial_string<Char>::compare(trivial_string const & other) const
+{
+	size_t const lsize = this->length();
+	size_t const rsize = other.length();
+	size_t const len = min(lsize, rsize);
+	int r = char_traits<Char>::compare(c_str(), other.c_str(), len);
+	if (r == 0) {
+		if (lsize > rsize)
+			r = 1;
+		else if (lsize < rsize)
+			r = -1;
+	}
+	return r;
+}
+
+
+template string trivial_string<char>::str() const;
+template docstring trivial_string<char_type>::str() const;
+template<typename Char>
+basic_string<Char, char_traits<Char>, allocator<Char> >
+trivial_string<Char>::str() const
+{
+	if (use_sso())
+		return basic_string<Char, char_traits<Char>, allocator<Char> >(
+				data_sso(), size_);
+	if (size_ > 0)
+		return basic_string<Char, char_traits<Char>, allocator<Char> >(
+				data_, size_);
+	// Happens only for really big Char types
+	return basic_string<Char, char_traits<Char>, allocator<Char> >();
+}
+
+
+template char const * trivial_string<char>::c_str() const;
+template char_type const * trivial_string<char_type>::c_str() const;
+template<typename Char> Char const * trivial_string<Char>::c_str() const
+{
+	if (use_sso())
+		return data_sso();
+	if (size_ > 0)
+		return data_;
+	// Happens only for really big Char types
+	static const Char empty_char = '\0';
+	return &empty_char;
+}
+
+
+template bool operator<(trivial_string<char> const &,
+                        trivial_string<char> const &);
+template bool operator<(trivial_string<char_type> const &,
+                        trivial_string<char_type> const &);
+template <typename Char>
+bool operator<(trivial_string<Char> const & lhs, trivial_string<Char> const &rhs)
+{
+	return lhs.compare(rhs) < 0;
+}
+
+} // namespace lyx
diff --git a/src/support/trivstring.h b/src/support/trivstring.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4123d32ed1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/support/trivstring.h
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+// -*- C++ -*-
+/**
+ * \file trivstring.h
+ * This file is part of LyX, the document processor.
+ * Licence details can be found in the file COPYING.
+ *
+ * \author Georg Baum
+ *
+ * Full author contact details are available in file CREDITS.
+ */
+
+#ifndef LYX_TRIVSTRING_H
+#define LYX_TRIVSTRING_H
+
+#include "support/strfwd.h"
+
+#include <cstdlib>
+
+namespace lyx {
+
+/**
+ * Trivial string class with almost no features.
+ * The public interface is a subset of the std::basic_string interface.
+ * The only important feature is that any read-only access does not need
+ * synchronization between multiple threads, i.e. it is thread-safe without
+ * locking.
+ * Therefore you can safely use a const trivial_string object in multiple
+ * threads at the same time. This is not the case for std::basic_string in some
+ * STL implementations (e. g. GNU libcstd++, see bug 9336 and
+ * https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=21334.
+ * This class should not be used for anything else than providing thread-safety.
+ * It should be removed as soon as LyX requires C++11, and all supported STL
+ * implementations provide a C++11 conformant std::basic_string.
+ */
+template <typename Char> class trivial_string
+{
+public:
+	/// Construct an empty string
+	trivial_string() : size_(0), data_(0) {}
+	/// Construct a string from a copy of \p that
+	trivial_string(trivial_string const & that);
+	/// Construct a string from a copy of \p that
+	trivial_string(std::basic_string<Char, std::char_traits<Char>, std::allocator<Char> > const & that);
+	///
+	~trivial_string() { if (!use_sso()) delete[] data_; }
+	/// Assign a copy of \p that
+	trivial_string & operator=(trivial_string const & that);
+	/// Assign a copy of \p that
+	trivial_string & operator=(std::basic_string<Char, std::char_traits<Char>, std::allocator<Char> > const & that);
+	/// Exchange contents with contents of \p that
+	void swap(trivial_string & that);
+	/// The length of the string, excluding the final 0 character
+	size_t length() const { return size_; }
+	/// Is this string empty?
+	bool empty() const { return size_ == 0; }
+	/// Is this string ordered before, at the same position or after \p other?
+	int compare(trivial_string const & other) const;
+	/// Create a copy as std::basic_string
+	std::basic_string<Char, std::char_traits<Char>, std::allocator<Char> > str() const;
+	/// Return a C-compatible string, terminated by a 0 character.
+	/// This is never a copy and only valid for the life time of the trivial_string instance.
+	Char const * c_str() const;
+private:
+	/**
+	 * Whether short string optimization is used.
+	 * Short string optimization is a technique where no additional memory
+	 * needs to be allocated to store the string contents.
+	 * Instead, the memory which would be used to store the pointer to the
+	 * character buffer is reinterpreted to be a Char * buffer.
+	 * On most 64 bit systems and with Char == char this allows to store
+	 * strings of up to 7 characters without allocating additional memory.
+	 */
+	bool use_sso() const { return (size_ + 1) * sizeof(Char) <= sizeof(Char *); }
+	/// The character storage if sso is used
+	Char       * data_sso()       { return reinterpret_cast<Char *      >(&data_); }
+	/// The character storage if sso is used
+	Char const * data_sso() const { return reinterpret_cast<Char const *>(&data_); }
+	/// The length of the string, excluding the final 0 character
+	size_t size_;
+	/// The character storage
+	Char * data_;
+};
+template <typename Char> bool operator<(trivial_string<Char> const & lhs, trivial_string<Char> const &rhs);
+
+
+} // namespace lyx
+#endif