diff --git a/Benchmarks/Google/Core/GoogleBenchmarkMain.cpp b/Benchmarks/Google/Core/GoogleBenchmarkMain.cpp
index f405e1a96df..0db05987906 100644
--- a/Benchmarks/Google/Core/GoogleBenchmarkMain.cpp
+++ b/Benchmarks/Google/Core/GoogleBenchmarkMain.cpp
@@ -47,23 +47,17 @@ class EngineCriticalSections
 public:
 	EngineCriticalSections()
 	{
-		TheAsciiStringCriticalSection = &m_asciiString;
-		TheUnicodeStringCriticalSection = &m_unicodeString;
 		TheDmaCriticalSection = &m_dma;
 		TheMemoryPoolCriticalSection = &m_memoryPool;
 	}
 
 	~EngineCriticalSections()
 	{
-		TheAsciiStringCriticalSection = nullptr;
-		TheUnicodeStringCriticalSection = nullptr;
 		TheDmaCriticalSection = nullptr;
 		TheMemoryPoolCriticalSection = nullptr;
 	}
 
 private:
-	CriticalSection m_asciiString;
-	CriticalSection m_unicodeString;
 	CriticalSection m_dma;
 	CriticalSection m_memoryPool;
 };
diff --git a/Core/GameEngine/Include/Common/AsciiString.h b/Core/GameEngine/Include/Common/AsciiString.h
index 6065881b27e..7505183db7e 100644
--- a/Core/GameEngine/Include/Common/AsciiString.h
+++ b/Core/GameEngine/Include/Common/AsciiString.h
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@
 #include "Lib/BaseType.h"
 #include "Common/Debug.h"
 #include "Common/Errors.h"
+#include <Utility/atomic_adapter.h>
 
 class UnicodeString;
 
@@ -80,11 +81,11 @@ class AsciiString
 {
 private:
 
-	// Note, this is a Plain Old Data Structure... don't
-	// add a ctor/dtor, 'cuz they won't ever be called.
+	// This header data is allocated in raw storage with an explicit lifetime.
+	// It is constructed when string data is allocated and destroyed when the string is freed.
 	struct AsciiStringData
 	{
-		unsigned short	m_refCount;						// reference count
+		std::atomic<unsigned short>	m_refCount;						// reference count
 		unsigned short	m_numCharsAllocated;  // length of data allocated
 		// char m_stringdata[];
 
diff --git a/Core/GameEngine/Include/Common/UnicodeString.h b/Core/GameEngine/Include/Common/UnicodeString.h
index 9a12d79708d..952a2017480 100644
--- a/Core/GameEngine/Include/Common/UnicodeString.h
+++ b/Core/GameEngine/Include/Common/UnicodeString.h
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@
 #include "Lib/BaseType.h"
 #include "Common/Debug.h"
 #include "Common/Errors.h"
+#include <Utility/atomic_adapter.h>
 
 class AsciiString;
 
@@ -80,11 +81,11 @@ class UnicodeString
 {
 private:
 
-	// Note, this is a Plain Old Data Structure... don't
-	// add a ctor/dtor, 'cuz they won't ever be called.
+	// This header data is allocated in raw storage with an explicit lifetime.
+	// It is constructed when string data is allocated and destroyed when the string is freed.
 	struct UnicodeStringData
 	{
-		unsigned short	m_refCount;						// reference count
+		std::atomic<unsigned short>	m_refCount;						// reference count
 		unsigned short	m_numCharsAllocated;  // length of data allocated
 		// WideChar m_stringdata[];
 
diff --git a/Core/GameEngine/Source/Common/System/AsciiString.cpp b/Core/GameEngine/Source/Common/System/AsciiString.cpp
index ca53aede056..12ef2de8cd2 100644
--- a/Core/GameEngine/Source/Common/System/AsciiString.cpp
+++ b/Core/GameEngine/Source/Common/System/AsciiString.cpp
@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@
 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 #include "PreRTS.h"	// This must go first in EVERY cpp file in the GameEngine
 
-#include "Common/CriticalSection.h"
 #include "WWLib/utf8.h"
 
 
@@ -121,7 +120,6 @@ static StringCaseInfo getStringCaseInfo(const char *str)
 // -----------------------------------------------------
 AsciiString::AsciiString(const AsciiString& stringSrc) : m_data(stringSrc.m_data)
 {
-	ScopedCriticalSection scopedCriticalSection(TheAsciiStringCriticalSection);
 	if (m_data)
 		++m_data->m_refCount;
 	validate();
@@ -184,7 +182,8 @@ void AsciiString::ensureUniqueBufferOfSize(int numCharsNeeded, Bool preserveData
 	DEBUG_ASSERTCRASH(numCharsNeeded <= MAX_LEN, ("AsciiString::ensureUniqueBufferOfSize exceeds max string length %d with requested length %d", MAX_LEN, numCharsNeeded));
 	int minBytes = sizeof(AsciiStringData) + numCharsNeeded*sizeof(char);
 	int actualBytes = TheDynamicMemoryAllocator->getActualAllocationSize(minBytes);
-	AsciiStringData* newData = (AsciiStringData*)TheDynamicMemoryAllocator->allocateBytesDoNotZero(actualBytes, "STR_AsciiString::ensureUniqueBufferOfSize");
+	void* rawData = TheDynamicMemoryAllocator->allocateBytesDoNotZero(actualBytes, "STR_AsciiString::ensureUniqueBufferOfSize");
+	AsciiStringData* newData = new(rawData) AsciiStringData;
 	newData->m_refCount = 1;
 	newData->m_numCharsAllocated = (actualBytes - sizeof(AsciiStringData))/sizeof(char);
 
@@ -214,16 +213,17 @@ void AsciiString::ensureUniqueBufferOfSize(int numCharsNeeded, Bool preserveData
 // -----------------------------------------------------
 void AsciiString::releaseBuffer()
 {
-	ScopedCriticalSection scopedCriticalSection(TheAsciiStringCriticalSection);
-
 	validate();
 	if (m_data)
 	{
-		if (--m_data->m_refCount == 0)
+		AsciiStringData* oldData = m_data;
+		m_data = nullptr;
+
+		if (--oldData->m_refCount == 0)
 		{
-			TheDynamicMemoryAllocator->freeBytes(m_data);
+			oldData->~AsciiStringData();
+			TheDynamicMemoryAllocator->freeBytes(oldData);
 		}
-		m_data = nullptr;
 	}
 	validate();
 }
@@ -253,15 +253,15 @@ AsciiString::AsciiString(const char* s, int len) : m_data(nullptr)
 // -----------------------------------------------------
 void AsciiString::set(const AsciiString& stringSrc)
 {
-	ScopedCriticalSection scopedCriticalSection(TheAsciiStringCriticalSection);
-
 	validate();
 	if (&stringSrc != this)
 	{
+		AsciiStringData* newData = stringSrc.m_data;
+		if (newData)
+			++newData->m_refCount;
+
 		releaseBuffer();
-		m_data = stringSrc.m_data;
-		if (m_data)
-			++m_data->m_refCount;
+		m_data = newData;
 	}
 	validate();
 }
diff --git a/Core/GameEngine/Source/Common/System/UnicodeString.cpp b/Core/GameEngine/Source/Common/System/UnicodeString.cpp
index 27b7e11c0cb..0c7ca508268 100644
--- a/Core/GameEngine/Source/Common/System/UnicodeString.cpp
+++ b/Core/GameEngine/Source/Common/System/UnicodeString.cpp
@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@
 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 #include "PreRTS.h"	// This must go first in EVERY cpp file in the GameEngine
 
-#include "Common/CriticalSection.h"
 #include "WWLib/utf8.h"
 
 
@@ -66,7 +65,6 @@ void UnicodeString::validate() const
 // -----------------------------------------------------
 UnicodeString::UnicodeString(const UnicodeString& stringSrc) : m_data(stringSrc.m_data)
 {
-	ScopedCriticalSection scopedCriticalSection(TheUnicodeStringCriticalSection);
 	if (m_data)
 		++m_data->m_refCount;
 	validate();
@@ -100,7 +98,8 @@ void UnicodeString::ensureUniqueBufferOfSize(int numCharsNeeded, Bool preserveDa
 	DEBUG_ASSERTCRASH(numCharsNeeded <= MAX_LEN, ("UnicodeString::ensureUniqueBufferOfSize exceeds max string length %d with requested length %d", MAX_LEN, numCharsNeeded));
 	int minBytes = sizeof(UnicodeStringData) + numCharsNeeded*sizeof(WideChar);
 	int actualBytes = TheDynamicMemoryAllocator->getActualAllocationSize(minBytes);
-	UnicodeStringData* newData = (UnicodeStringData*)TheDynamicMemoryAllocator->allocateBytesDoNotZero(actualBytes, "STR_UnicodeString::ensureUniqueBufferOfSize");
+	void* rawData = TheDynamicMemoryAllocator->allocateBytesDoNotZero(actualBytes, "STR_UnicodeString::ensureUniqueBufferOfSize");
+	UnicodeStringData* newData = new(rawData) UnicodeStringData;
 	newData->m_refCount = 1;
 	newData->m_numCharsAllocated = (actualBytes - sizeof(UnicodeStringData))/sizeof(WideChar);
 
@@ -130,17 +129,19 @@ void UnicodeString::ensureUniqueBufferOfSize(int numCharsNeeded, Bool preserveDa
 // -----------------------------------------------------
 void UnicodeString::releaseBuffer()
 {
-	ScopedCriticalSection scopedCriticalSection(TheUnicodeStringCriticalSection);
-
 	validate();
 	if (m_data)
 	{
-		if (--m_data->m_refCount == 0)
+		UnicodeStringData* oldData = m_data;
+		m_data = nullptr;
+
+		if (--oldData->m_refCount == 0)
 		{
-			TheDynamicMemoryAllocator->freeBytes(m_data);
+			oldData->~UnicodeStringData();
+			TheDynamicMemoryAllocator->freeBytes(oldData);
 		}
-		m_data = nullptr;
 	}
+	validate();
 }
 
 // -----------------------------------------------------
@@ -167,15 +168,15 @@ UnicodeString::UnicodeString(const WideChar* s, int len) : m_data(nullptr)
 // -----------------------------------------------------
 void UnicodeString::set(const UnicodeString& stringSrc)
 {
-	ScopedCriticalSection scopedCriticalSection(TheUnicodeStringCriticalSection);
-
 	validate();
 	if (&stringSrc != this)
 	{
+		UnicodeStringData* newData = stringSrc.m_data;
+		if (newData)
+			++newData->m_refCount;
+
 		releaseBuffer();
-		m_data = stringSrc.m_data;
-		if (m_data)
-			++m_data->m_refCount;
+		m_data = newData;
 	}
 	validate();
 }
diff --git a/Generals/Code/GameEngine/Include/Common/CriticalSection.h b/Generals/Code/GameEngine/Include/Common/CriticalSection.h
index 125c7daee97..bd28f141836 100644
--- a/Generals/Code/GameEngine/Include/Common/CriticalSection.h
+++ b/Generals/Code/GameEngine/Include/Common/CriticalSection.h
@@ -94,7 +94,5 @@ class ScopedCriticalSection
 
 // These should be null on creation then non-null in WinMain or equivalent.
 // This allows us to be silently non-threadsafe for WB and other single-threaded apps.
-extern CriticalSection *TheAsciiStringCriticalSection;
-extern CriticalSection *TheUnicodeStringCriticalSection;
 extern CriticalSection *TheDmaCriticalSection;
 extern CriticalSection *TheMemoryPoolCriticalSection;
diff --git a/Generals/Code/GameEngine/Source/Common/System/CriticalSection.cpp b/Generals/Code/GameEngine/Source/Common/System/CriticalSection.cpp
index de62b21ad85..6044bc9a570 100644
--- a/Generals/Code/GameEngine/Source/Common/System/CriticalSection.cpp
+++ b/Generals/Code/GameEngine/Source/Common/System/CriticalSection.cpp
@@ -27,8 +27,6 @@
 #include "Common/CriticalSection.h"
 
 // Definitions.
-CriticalSection *TheAsciiStringCriticalSection = nullptr;
-CriticalSection *TheUnicodeStringCriticalSection = nullptr;
 CriticalSection *TheDmaCriticalSection = nullptr;
 CriticalSection *TheMemoryPoolCriticalSection = nullptr;
 
diff --git a/Generals/Code/Main/WinMain.cpp b/Generals/Code/Main/WinMain.cpp
index ff5074470da..9e529a2fa1e 100644
--- a/Generals/Code/Main/WinMain.cpp
+++ b/Generals/Code/Main/WinMain.cpp
@@ -767,7 +767,7 @@ static Bool initializeAppWindows( HINSTANCE hInstance, Int nCmdShow, Bool runWin
 }
 
 // Necessary to allow memory managers and such to have useful critical sections
-static CriticalSection critSec1, critSec2, critSec3, critSec4;
+static CriticalSection critSec3, critSec4;
 
 // UnHandledExceptionFilter ===================================================
 /** Handler for unhandled win32 exceptions. */
@@ -806,8 +806,6 @@ Int APIENTRY WinMain( HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
 		// default in a DevStudio project
 		//
 
-		TheAsciiStringCriticalSection = &critSec1;
-		TheUnicodeStringCriticalSection = &critSec2;
 		TheDmaCriticalSection = &critSec3;
 		TheMemoryPoolCriticalSection = &critSec4;
 
@@ -911,8 +909,6 @@ Int APIENTRY WinMain( HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
 #ifdef RTS_ENABLE_CRASHDUMP
 	MiniDumper::shutdownMiniDumper();
 #endif
-	TheAsciiStringCriticalSection = nullptr;
-	TheUnicodeStringCriticalSection = nullptr;
 	TheDmaCriticalSection = nullptr;
 	TheMemoryPoolCriticalSection = nullptr;
 
diff --git a/GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Include/Common/CriticalSection.h b/GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Include/Common/CriticalSection.h
index 54e79084087..3651b2be0e2 100644
--- a/GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Include/Common/CriticalSection.h
+++ b/GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Include/Common/CriticalSection.h
@@ -94,7 +94,5 @@ class ScopedCriticalSection
 
 // These should be null on creation then non-null in WinMain or equivalent.
 // This allows us to be silently non-threadsafe for WB and other single-threaded apps.
-extern CriticalSection *TheAsciiStringCriticalSection;
-extern CriticalSection *TheUnicodeStringCriticalSection;
 extern CriticalSection *TheDmaCriticalSection;
 extern CriticalSection *TheMemoryPoolCriticalSection;
diff --git a/GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/Common/System/CriticalSection.cpp b/GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/Common/System/CriticalSection.cpp
index 6d7e9125387..253297b1b06 100644
--- a/GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/Common/System/CriticalSection.cpp
+++ b/GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/Common/System/CriticalSection.cpp
@@ -27,8 +27,6 @@
 #include "Common/CriticalSection.h"
 
 // Definitions.
-CriticalSection *TheAsciiStringCriticalSection = nullptr;
-CriticalSection *TheUnicodeStringCriticalSection = nullptr;
 CriticalSection *TheDmaCriticalSection = nullptr;
 CriticalSection *TheMemoryPoolCriticalSection = nullptr;
 
diff --git a/GeneralsMD/Code/Main/WinMain.cpp b/GeneralsMD/Code/Main/WinMain.cpp
index 864c5576164..6a16c6585e5 100644
--- a/GeneralsMD/Code/Main/WinMain.cpp
+++ b/GeneralsMD/Code/Main/WinMain.cpp
@@ -769,7 +769,7 @@ static Bool initializeAppWindows( HINSTANCE hInstance, Int nCmdShow, Bool runWin
 }
 
 // Necessary to allow memory managers and such to have useful critical sections
-static CriticalSection critSec1, critSec2, critSec3, critSec4;
+static CriticalSection critSec3, critSec4;
 
 // UnHandledExceptionFilter ===================================================
 /** Handler for unhandled win32 exceptions. */
@@ -813,8 +813,6 @@ Int APIENTRY WinMain( HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
 		// default in a DevStudio project
 		//
 
-		TheAsciiStringCriticalSection = &critSec1;
-		TheUnicodeStringCriticalSection = &critSec2;
 		TheDmaCriticalSection = &critSec3;
 		TheMemoryPoolCriticalSection = &critSec4;
 
@@ -940,7 +938,6 @@ Int APIENTRY WinMain( HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
 #ifdef RTS_ENABLE_CRASHDUMP
 	MiniDumper::shutdownMiniDumper();
 #endif
-	TheUnicodeStringCriticalSection = nullptr;
 	TheDmaCriticalSection = nullptr;
 	TheMemoryPoolCriticalSection = nullptr;
 
diff --git a/Tests/Google/Core/GoogleTestMain.cpp b/Tests/Google/Core/GoogleTestMain.cpp
index c53d3bf48b2..e328bede416 100644
--- a/Tests/Google/Core/GoogleTestMain.cpp
+++ b/Tests/Google/Core/GoogleTestMain.cpp
@@ -46,23 +46,17 @@ class EngineCriticalSections
 public:
 	EngineCriticalSections()
 	{
-		TheAsciiStringCriticalSection = &m_asciiString;
-		TheUnicodeStringCriticalSection = &m_unicodeString;
 		TheDmaCriticalSection = &m_dma;
 		TheMemoryPoolCriticalSection = &m_memoryPool;
 	}
 
 	~EngineCriticalSections()
 	{
-		TheAsciiStringCriticalSection = nullptr;
-		TheUnicodeStringCriticalSection = nullptr;
 		TheDmaCriticalSection = nullptr;
 		TheMemoryPoolCriticalSection = nullptr;
 	}
 
 private:
-	CriticalSection m_asciiString;
-	CriticalSection m_unicodeString;
 	CriticalSection m_dma;
 	CriticalSection m_memoryPool;
 };