diff --git a/src/register_target.cpp b/src/register_target.cpp
index 77b2c00601f..946857d754e 100644
--- a/src/register_target.cpp
+++ b/src/register_target.cpp
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
  * The MIT License (MIT)
  *
- * Copyright (c) 2015-2022 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2015-2023 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. All rights reserved.
  *
  * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
  * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
  * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
  * THE SOFTWARE.
  */
+#include <mutex>
 #include <string>
 #include <unordered_map>
 #include <migraphx/register_target.hpp>
@@ -33,46 +34,92 @@ inline namespace MIGRAPHX_INLINE_NS {
 void store_target_lib(const dynamic_loader& lib)
 {
     static std::vector<dynamic_loader> target_loader;
+    static std::mutex mutex;
+    std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(mutex);
+
     target_loader.emplace_back(lib);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Returns a singleton map of targets and names.
+ */
 std::unordered_map<std::string, target>& target_map()
 {
     static std::unordered_map<std::string, target> m; // NOLINT
     return m;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Returns a singleton mutex used by the various register_target methods.
+ */
+std::mutex& target_mutex()
+{
+    static std::mutex m; // NOLINT
+    return m;
+}
+
 void register_target_init() { (void)target_map(); }
 
 void unregister_target(const std::string& name)
 {
+    std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(target_mutex());
     assert(target_map().count(name));
     target_map().erase(name);
 }
 
-void register_target(const target& t) { target_map()[t.name()] = t; }
+/**
+ * Insert a target name in the target_map; thread safe.
+ */
+void register_target(const target& t)
+{
+    std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(target_mutex());
+    target_map()[t.name()] = t;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Search for a target by name in the target_map; thread-safe.
+ */
+migraphx::optional<target> find_target(const std::string& name)
+{
+    // search for match or return none
+    std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(target_mutex());
+    const auto it = target_map().find(name);
+
+    if(it == target_map().end())
+        return nullopt;
+    return it->second;
+}
 
+/**
+ * Get a target by name.  Load target library and register target if needed.
+ * Thread safe.
+ */
 target make_target(const std::string& name)
 {
-    if(not contains(target_map(), name))
+    //   no lock required here
+    auto t = find_target(name);
+    if(t == nullopt)
     {
 #ifdef _WIN32
         std::string target_name = "migraphx_" + name + ".dll";
 #else
         std::string target_name = "libmigraphx_" + name + ".so";
 #endif
+        // register_target is called by this
         store_target_lib(dynamic_loader(target_name));
+        t = find_target(name);
     }
-    const auto it = target_map().find(name);
-    if(it == target_map().end())
-    {
-        MIGRAPHX_THROW("Requested target '" + name + "' is not loaded or not supported");
-    }
-    return it->second;
+    // at this point we should always have a target
+
+    return *t;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Get list of names of registered targets.
+ */
 std::vector<std::string> get_targets()
 {
+    std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(target_mutex());
     std::vector<std::string> result;
     std::transform(target_map().begin(),
                    target_map().end(),
diff --git a/test/targets.cpp b/test/targets.cpp
index 97e2d8d5f2f..b6e828837b0 100644
--- a/test/targets.cpp
+++ b/test/targets.cpp
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
  */
 #include <migraphx/register_target.hpp>
 #include <migraphx/target.hpp>
+#include <migraphx/simple_par_for.hpp>
 #include "test.hpp"
 
 TEST_CASE(make_target)
@@ -46,4 +47,42 @@ TEST_CASE(targets)
     EXPECT(ts.size() >= 1);
 }
 
+TEST_CASE(concurrent_targets)
+{
+    std::vector<migraphx::joinable_thread> threads;
+#ifdef HAVE_GPU
+    std::string target_name = "gpu";
+#elif defined(HAVE_CPU)
+    std::string target_name = "cpu";
+#elif defined(HAVE_FPGA)
+    std::string target_name = "fpga";
+#else
+    std::string target_name = "ref";
+#endif
+
+    auto n_threads = std::thread::hardware_concurrency() * 4;
+
+    for(auto i = 0u; i < n_threads; i++)
+    {
+        auto thread_body = [&target_name]() {
+            // TODO:  remove all existing targets, if any.
+            //   The existing code cannot pass a test in which different threads
+            //   register and unregister the same targets; not known if this is
+            //   needed in any deployed product.
+            // std::vector<std::string> target_list = migraphx::get_targets();
+            // for(const auto& tt : target_list)
+            //     migraphx::unregister_target(tt);
+
+            auto ref_target = migraphx::make_target(target_name);
+            migraphx::register_target(ref_target);
+            EXPECT(test::throws([&] { ref_target = migraphx::make_target("xyz"); }));
+
+            migraphx::get_targets();
+        };
+
+        threads.emplace_back(thread_body);
+    }
+    // joinable_thread don't need to have join() called.
+}
+
 int main(int argc, const char* argv[]) { test::run(argc, argv); }