diff --git a/components/nif/niffile.cpp b/components/nif/niffile.cpp
index bf604f5adf..8b17680cf3 100644
--- a/components/nif/niffile.cpp
+++ b/components/nif/niffile.cpp
@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ bool NIFFile::getUseSkinning() const
     return mUseSkinning;
 }
 
-bool NIFFile::sLoadUnsupportedFiles = false;
+std::atomic_bool NIFFile::sLoadUnsupportedFiles = false;
 
 void NIFFile::setLoadUnsupportedFiles(bool load)
 {
diff --git a/components/nif/niffile.hpp b/components/nif/niffile.hpp
index d9f46795c1..def2b8870d 100644
--- a/components/nif/niffile.hpp
+++ b/components/nif/niffile.hpp
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 #include <stdexcept>
 #include <vector>
+#include <atomic>
 
 #include <components/debug/debuglog.hpp>
 #include <components/files/constrainedfilestream.hpp>
@@ -65,7 +66,7 @@ class NIFFile final : public File
 
     bool mUseSkinning = false;
 
-    static bool sLoadUnsupportedFiles;
+    static std::atomic_bool sLoadUnsupportedFiles;
 
     /// Parse the file
     void parse(Files::IStreamPtr stream);