diff --git a/SofaKernel/framework/sofa/core/objectmodel/BaseClass.cpp b/SofaKernel/framework/sofa/core/objectmodel/BaseClass.cpp
index 92a62518717..0eae0cfe222 100644
--- a/SofaKernel/framework/sofa/core/objectmodel/BaseClass.cpp
+++ b/SofaKernel/framework/sofa/core/objectmodel/BaseClass.cpp
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@
 #include <sofa/core/objectmodel/BaseClass.h>
 #include <sofa/helper/logging/Messaging.h>
 
+#ifdef __GNUC__
+#include <cxxabi.h>
+#endif // __GNUC__
+
 namespace sofa
 {
 
diff --git a/SofaKernel/framework/sofa/helper/CMakeLists.txt b/SofaKernel/framework/sofa/helper/CMakeLists.txt
index baadd398338..4a8598d9a9e 100644
--- a/SofaKernel/framework/sofa/helper/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/SofaKernel/framework/sofa/helper/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -336,23 +336,24 @@ if(SOFA-EXTERNAL_FFMPEG)
                         "libswresample.a"
                         "/usr/lib/libiconv.dylib"
                         )
-                                                find_library(FOUNDATION CoreFoundation)
-                        find_library(VIDEO CoreVideo)
-                        find_library(VIDEO_DECOD_ACC VideoDecodeAcceleration)
-                        find_library(ICONV iconv)
-                        target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME}  ${FFMPEG_LIBS} ${FOUNDATION} ${VIDEO} ${VIDEO_DECOD_ACC})
+                find_library(FOUNDATION CoreFoundation)
+                ind_library(VIDEO CoreVideo)
+                find_library(VIDEO_DECOD_ACC VideoDecodeAcceleration)
+                target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME}  ${FFMPEG_LIBS} ${FOUNDATION} ${VIDEO} ${VIDEO_DECOD_ACC})
         elseif (UNIX)
             AddLinkerDependencies(avcodec)
-                    AddLinkerDependencies(avformat)
-                        AddLinkerDependencies(avutil)
-                        AddLinkerDependencies(swscale)
-                        AddLinkerDependencies(avdevice)
-                        AddLinkerDependencies(avfilter)
-                        AddLinkerDependencies(swresample)
-                endif()
+            AddLinkerDependencies(avformat)
+            AddLinkerDependencies(avutil)
+            AddLinkerDependencies(swscale)
+            AddLinkerDependencies(avdevice)
+            AddLinkerDependencies(avfilter)
+            AddLinkerDependencies(swresample)
+        endif()
 
 endif()
 if(APPLE)
+    find_library(ICONV iconv)
+    target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} PUBLIC ${ICONV})
     # on macOS, -framework CoreServices is needed for FileMonitor
     list(APPEND SOFAFRAMEWORK_DEPENDENCY_LINK "-framework CoreServices")
 endif()
diff --git a/SofaKernel/framework/sofa/simulation/CMakeLists.txt b/SofaKernel/framework/sofa/simulation/CMakeLists.txt
index b6816c6274a..54dc9fab2f3 100644
--- a/SofaKernel/framework/sofa/simulation/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/SofaKernel/framework/sofa/simulation/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -131,11 +131,16 @@ set(SOURCE_FILES
     InitTasks.cpp
 )
 
-
-
 add_library(${PROJECT_NAME} SHARED ${HEADER_FILES} ${SOURCE_FILES})
 target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} PUBLIC SofaCore)
 set_target_properties(${PROJECT_NAME} PROPERTIES COMPILE_FLAGS "-DSOFA_BUILD_SIMULATION_CORE")
 set_target_properties(${PROJECT_NAME} PROPERTIES DEBUG_POSTFIX "_d")
 
+# is this a compiler/linker version specific problem?
+if(CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL Linux)
+    # target_link_options is  available from CMake 3.13
+    # target_link_options(${PROJECT_NAME} PUBLIC "-pthread")
+    SET(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -pthread" )
+endif()
+
 sofa_install_targets(SofaSimulation ${PROJECT_NAME} "sofa/simulation")
diff --git a/SofaKernel/framework/sofa/simulation/Locks.h b/SofaKernel/framework/sofa/simulation/Locks.h
index 93b9125960e..d04bc0cb56a 100644
--- a/SofaKernel/framework/sofa/simulation/Locks.h
+++ b/SofaKernel/framework/sofa/simulation/Locks.h
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ namespace sofa
         public:
             
             SpinLock()
+            :_flag()
             {}
             
             ~SpinLock()
@@ -70,7 +71,7 @@ namespace sofa
             
         private:
             
-            std::atomic_flag _flag = ATOMIC_FLAG_INIT;
+            std::atomic_flag _flag;
             
             char _pad [CACHE_LINE - sizeof(std::atomic_flag)];
         };