diff --git a/src/mlpack/config.hpp b/src/mlpack/config.hpp
index e538c5d219..a8a03c3c93 100644
--- a/src/mlpack/config.hpp
+++ b/src/mlpack/config.hpp
@@ -72,6 +72,15 @@
   #define MLPACK_CERR_STREAM std::cerr
 #endif
 
+
+//
+// MLPACK_NO_STD_MUTEX is used to disable mutex usage inside mlpack. Assuming
+// the system has one core only.
+//
+#ifdef MLPACK_NO_STD_MUTEX
+  #define ARMA_DO_NOT_USE_STD_MUTEX
+#endif
+
 //
 // Perform autodetection of STB if possible.
 //
diff --git a/src/mlpack/core/util/io.hpp b/src/mlpack/core/util/io.hpp
index 91598c3556..9923774f8b 100644
--- a/src/mlpack/core/util/io.hpp
+++ b/src/mlpack/core/util/io.hpp
@@ -269,8 +269,10 @@ class IO
   static util::Timers& GetTimers();
 
  private:
+#ifndef MLPACK_NO_STD_MUTEX
   //! Ensure only one thread can call Add() at a time to modify the map.
   std::mutex mapMutex;
+#endif
   //! Map from alias values to names, for each binding name.
   std::map<std::string, std::map<char, std::string>> aliases;
   //! Map of parameters, for each binding name.
@@ -281,8 +283,10 @@ class IO
       void (*)(util::ParamData&, const void*, void*)>>;
   FunctionMapType functionMap;
 
+#ifndef MLPACK_NO_STD_MUTEX
   //! Ensure only one thread can modify the docs map at a time.
   std::mutex docMutex;
+#endif
   //! Map of binding details.
   std::map<std::string, util::BindingDetails> docs;
 
diff --git a/src/mlpack/core/util/io_impl.hpp b/src/mlpack/core/util/io_impl.hpp
index e1ddb6273e..0492f40616 100644
--- a/src/mlpack/core/util/io_impl.hpp
+++ b/src/mlpack/core/util/io_impl.hpp
@@ -81,7 +81,9 @@ inline void IO::AddParameter(const std::string& bindingName,
   }
 
   // Add the alias, if necessary.
+#ifndef MLPACK_NO_STD_MUTEX
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(GetSingleton().mapMutex);
+#endif
   if (data.alias != '\0')
     bindingAliases[data.alias] = data.name;
 
@@ -99,7 +101,9 @@ inline void IO::AddFunction(const std::string& type,
                             const std::string& name,
                             void (*func)(util::ParamData&, const void*, void*))
 {
+#ifndef MLPACK_NO_STD_MUTEX
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(GetSingleton().mapMutex);
+#endif
   GetSingleton().functionMap[type][name] = func;
 }
 
@@ -112,7 +116,9 @@ inline void IO::AddFunction(const std::string& type,
 inline void IO::AddBindingName(const std::string& bindingName,
                                const std::string& name)
 {
+#ifndef MLPACK_NO_STD_MUTEX
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(GetSingleton().mapMutex);
+#endif
   GetSingleton().docs[bindingName].name = name;
 }
 
@@ -125,7 +131,9 @@ inline void IO::AddBindingName(const std::string& bindingName,
 inline void IO::AddShortDescription(const std::string& bindingName,
                                     const std::string& shortDescription)
 {
+#ifndef MLPACK_NO_STD_MUTEX
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(GetSingleton().docMutex);
+#endif
   GetSingleton().docs[bindingName].shortDescription = shortDescription;
 }
 
@@ -139,7 +147,9 @@ inline void IO::AddLongDescription(
     const std::string& bindingName,
     const std::function<std::string()>& longDescription)
 {
+#ifndef MLPACK_NO_STD_MUTEX
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(GetSingleton().docMutex);
+#endif
   GetSingleton().docs[bindingName].longDescription = longDescription;
 }
 
@@ -152,7 +162,9 @@ inline void IO::AddLongDescription(
 inline void IO::AddExample(const std::string& bindingName,
                            const std::function<std::string()>& example)
 {
+#ifndef MLPACK_NO_STD_MUTEX
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(GetSingleton().docMutex);
+#endif
   GetSingleton().docs[bindingName].example.push_back(std::move(example));
 }
 
@@ -167,7 +179,9 @@ inline void IO::AddSeeAlso(const std::string& bindingName,
                            const std::string& description,
                            const std::string& link)
 {
+#ifndef MLPACK_NO_STD_MUTEX
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(GetSingleton().docMutex);
+#endif
   GetSingleton().docs[bindingName].seeAlso.push_back(
       std::make_pair(description, link));
 }
diff --git a/src/mlpack/core/util/timers.hpp b/src/mlpack/core/util/timers.hpp
index 42d1fefd58..215f9c6e9b 100644
--- a/src/mlpack/core/util/timers.hpp
+++ b/src/mlpack/core/util/timers.hpp
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@
 #include <iomanip>
 #include <list>
 #include <map>
+#ifndef MLPACK_NO_STD_MUTEX
 #include <mutex>
+#endif
 #include <string>
 #include <thread> // std::thread is used for thread safety.
 
@@ -169,8 +171,10 @@ class Timers
  private:
   //! A map of all the timers that are being tracked.
   std::map<std::string, std::chrono::microseconds> timers;
+#ifndef MLPACK_NO_STD_MUTEX
   //! A mutex for modifying the timers.
   std::mutex timersMutex;
+#endif
   //! A map for the starting values of the timers.
   std::map<std::thread::id, std::map<std::string,
       std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::time_point>> timerStartTime;
diff --git a/src/mlpack/core/util/timers_impl.hpp b/src/mlpack/core/util/timers_impl.hpp
index 16de70c13f..a5d7c3cf86 100644
--- a/src/mlpack/core/util/timers_impl.hpp
+++ b/src/mlpack/core/util/timers_impl.hpp
@@ -74,15 +74,19 @@ namespace util {
 // Reset a Timers object.
 inline void Timers::Reset()
 {
+#ifndef MLPACK_NO_STD_MUTEX
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(timersMutex);
+#endif
   timers.clear();
   timerStartTime.clear();
 }
 
 inline std::map<std::string, std::chrono::microseconds> Timers::GetAllTimers()
 {
+#ifndef MLPACK_NO_STD_MUTEX
   // Make a copy of the timer.
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(timersMutex);
+#endif
   return timers;
 }
 
@@ -91,7 +95,9 @@ inline std::chrono::microseconds Timers::Get(const std::string& timerName)
   if (!enabled)
     return std::chrono::microseconds(0);
 
+#ifndef MLPACK_NO_STD_MUTEX
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(timersMutex);
+#endif
   return timers[timerName];
 }
 
@@ -166,7 +172,9 @@ inline void Timers::StopAllTimers()
 {
   // Terminate the program timers.  Don't use StopTimer() since that modifies
   // the map and would invalidate our iterators.
+#ifndef MLPACK_NO_STD_MUTEX
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(timersMutex);
+#endif
 
   std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::time_point currTime =
       std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
@@ -191,7 +199,9 @@ inline void Timers::Start(const std::string& timerName,
   if (!enabled)
     return;
 
+#ifndef MLPACK_NO_STD_MUTEX
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(timersMutex);
+#endif
 
   if ((timerStartTime.count(threadId) > 0) &&
       (timerStartTime[threadId].count(timerName)))
@@ -221,7 +231,9 @@ inline void Timers::Stop(const std::string& timerName,
   if (!enabled)
     return;
 
+#ifndef MLPACK_NO_STD_MUTEX
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(timersMutex);
+#endif
 
   if ((timerStartTime.count(threadId) == 0) ||
       (timerStartTime[threadId].count(timerName) == 0))