diff --git a/portable/ThirdParty/GCC/Posix/port.c b/portable/ThirdParty/GCC/Posix/port.c
index 5dc3d73e2..d312aa48d 100644
--- a/portable/ThirdParty/GCC/Posix/port.c
+++ b/portable/ThirdParty/GCC/Posix/port.c
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@
 #include <sys/time.h>
 #include <sys/times.h>
 #include <time.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
 
 #ifdef __APPLE__
     #include <mach/mach_vm.h>
@@ -103,6 +104,9 @@ static pthread_t hMainThread = ( pthread_t ) NULL;
 static volatile BaseType_t uxCriticalNesting;
 /*-----------------------------------------------------------*/
 
+static pthread_t hTimerTickThread;
+static bool xTimerTickThreadShouldRun;
+
 static BaseType_t xSchedulerEnd = pdFALSE;
 /*-----------------------------------------------------------*/
 
@@ -231,6 +235,10 @@ BaseType_t xPortStartScheduler( void )
         sigwait( &xSignals, &iSignal );
     }
 
+    /* asking timer thread to shut down */
+    xTimerTickThreadShouldRun = false;
+    pthread_join( hTimerTickThread, NULL );
+
     /* Cancel the Idle task and free its resources */
     #if ( INCLUDE_xTaskGetIdleTaskHandle == 1 )
         vPortCancelThread( xTaskGetIdleTaskHandle() );
@@ -250,24 +258,8 @@ BaseType_t xPortStartScheduler( void )
 
 void vPortEndScheduler( void )
 {
-    struct itimerval itimer;
-    struct sigaction sigtick;
     Thread_t * xCurrentThread;
 
-    /* Stop the timer and ignore any pending SIGALRMs that would end
-     * up running on the main thread when it is resumed. */
-    itimer.it_value.tv_sec = 0;
-    itimer.it_value.tv_usec = 0;
-
-    itimer.it_interval.tv_sec = 0;
-    itimer.it_interval.tv_usec = 0;
-    ( void ) setitimer( ITIMER_REAL, &itimer, NULL );
-
-    sigtick.sa_flags = 0;
-    sigtick.sa_handler = SIG_IGN;
-    sigemptyset( &sigtick.sa_mask );
-    sigaction( SIGALRM, &sigtick, NULL );
-
     /* Signal the scheduler to exit its loop. */
     xSchedulerEnd = pdTRUE;
     ( void ) pthread_kill( hMainThread, SIG_RESUME );
@@ -366,38 +358,31 @@ static uint64_t prvStartTimeNs;
  * to adjust timing according to full demo requirements */
 /* static uint64_t prvTickCount; */
 
+static void* prvTimerTickHandler(void *arg)
+{
+    while( xTimerTickThreadShouldRun )
+    {
+        /*
+         * signal to the active task to cause tick handling or
+         * preemption (if enabled)
+         */
+        Thread_t * thread = prvGetThreadFromTask( xTaskGetCurrentTaskHandle() );
+        pthread_kill( thread->pthread, SIGALRM );
+
+        usleep( portTICK_RATE_MICROSECONDS );
+    }
+
+    return NULL;
+}
+
 /*
  * Setup the systick timer to generate the tick interrupts at the required
  * frequency.
  */
 void prvSetupTimerInterrupt( void )
 {
-    struct itimerval itimer;
-    int iRet;
-
-    /* Initialise the structure with the current timer information. */
-    iRet = getitimer( ITIMER_REAL, &itimer );
-
-    if( iRet == -1 )
-    {
-        prvFatalError( "getitimer", errno );
-    }
-
-    /* Set the interval between timer events. */
-    itimer.it_interval.tv_sec = 0;
-    itimer.it_interval.tv_usec = portTICK_RATE_MICROSECONDS;
-
-    /* Set the current count-down. */
-    itimer.it_value.tv_sec = 0;
-    itimer.it_value.tv_usec = portTICK_RATE_MICROSECONDS;
-
-    /* Set-up the timer interrupt. */
-    iRet = setitimer( ITIMER_REAL, &itimer, NULL );
-
-    if( iRet == -1 )
-    {
-        prvFatalError( "setitimer", errno );
-    }
+    xTimerTickThreadShouldRun = true;
+    pthread_create( &hTimerTickThread, NULL, prvTimerTickHandler, NULL );
 
     prvStartTimeNs = prvGetTimeNs();
 }