diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index b15161b23..499b3ac0c 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 ver 0.18.15 (not yet released)
+* work around build failure on NetBSD
 
 ver 0.18.14 (2014/09/11)
 * protocol
diff --git a/src/notify.hxx b/src/notify.hxx
index 6b9e95368..1024dd8d9 100644
--- a/src/notify.hxx
+++ b/src/notify.hxx
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ struct notify {
 	Cond cond;
 	bool pending;
 
-#ifndef WIN32
+#if !defined(WIN32) && !defined(__NetBSD__)
 	constexpr
 #endif
 	notify():pending(false) {}
diff --git a/src/thread/PosixCond.hxx b/src/thread/PosixCond.hxx
index 6f98d3ad0..c2797649a 100644
--- a/src/thread/PosixCond.hxx
+++ b/src/thread/PosixCond.hxx
@@ -41,7 +41,21 @@ class PosixCond {
 	pthread_cond_t cond;
 
 public:
+#ifdef __NetBSD__
+	/* NetBSD's PTHREAD_COND_INITIALIZER is not compatible with
+	   "constexpr" */
+	PosixCond() {
+		pthread_cond_init(&cond, nullptr);
+	}
+
+	~PosixCond() {
+		pthread_cond_destroy(&cond);
+	}
+#else
+	/* optimized constexpr constructor for sane POSIX
+	   implementations */
 	constexpr PosixCond():cond(PTHREAD_COND_INITIALIZER) {}
+#endif
 
 	PosixCond(const PosixCond &other) = delete;
 	PosixCond &operator=(const PosixCond &other) = delete;
diff --git a/src/thread/PosixMutex.hxx b/src/thread/PosixMutex.hxx
index d50764af4..445c0ace2 100644
--- a/src/thread/PosixMutex.hxx
+++ b/src/thread/PosixMutex.hxx
@@ -41,7 +41,21 @@ class PosixMutex {
 	pthread_mutex_t mutex;
 
 public:
+#ifdef __NetBSD__
+	/* NetBSD's PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER is not compatible with
+	   "constexpr" */
+	PosixMutex() {
+		pthread_mutex_init(&mutex, nullptr);
+	}
+
+	~PosixMutex() {
+		pthread_mutex_destroy(&mutex);
+	}
+#else
+	/* optimized constexpr constructor for sane POSIX
+	   implementations */
 	constexpr PosixMutex():mutex(PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER) {}
+#endif
 
 	PosixMutex(const PosixMutex &other) = delete;
 	PosixMutex &operator=(const PosixMutex &other) = delete;