diff --git a/include/openmc/mesh.h b/include/openmc/mesh.h
index d4255877e..1817809ff 100644
--- a/include/openmc/mesh.h
+++ b/include/openmc/mesh.h
@@ -538,7 +538,8 @@ private:
 
   // Data members
   std::unique_ptr<libMesh::Mesh> m_; //!< pointer to the libMesh mesh instance
-  std::vector<std::unique_ptr<libMesh::PointLocatorBase>> point_locators_; //!< pointers to locators for each thread
+  static std::unique_ptr<libMesh::PointLocatorBase> PL_; //!< per-thread point locators
+  #pragma omp threadprivate(PL_)
   std::unique_ptr<libMesh::EquationSystems> equation_systems_; //!< pointer to the equation systems of the mesh
   std::string eq_system_name_; //!< name of the equation system holding OpenMC results
   std::map<std::string, unsigned int> variable_map_; //!< mapping of variable names (tally scores) to libMesh variable numbers
diff --git a/src/mesh.cpp b/src/mesh.cpp
index ccaf96efd..194d3e72f 100644
--- a/src/mesh.cpp
+++ b/src/mesh.cpp
@@ -2088,6 +2088,9 @@ MOABMesh::write(std::string base_filename) const {
 #endif
 
 #ifdef LIBMESH
+
+std::unique_ptr<libMesh::PointLocatorBase> LibMesh::PL_ = nullptr;
+
 LibMesh::LibMesh(pugi::xml_node node) : UnstructuredMesh(node) {
   initialize();
 }
@@ -2118,19 +2121,9 @@ void LibMesh::initialize() {
   libMesh::ExplicitSystem& eq_sys =
     equation_systems_->add_system<libMesh::ExplicitSystem>(eq_system_name_);
 
-  // setup the point locator
-  #ifdef _OPENMP
-  int n_threads = omp_get_max_threads();
-  #else
-  int n_threads = 1;
-  #endif
-
-  point_locators_ = std::vector<std::unique_ptr<libMesh::PointLocatorBase>>(n_threads);
-  for (int i = 0; i < n_threads; i++) {
-    point_locators_[i] = m_->sub_point_locator();
-    point_locators_[i]->set_contains_point_tol(FP_COINCIDENT);
-    point_locators_[i]->enable_out_of_mesh_mode();
-  }
+  PL_ = m_->sub_point_locator();
+  PL_->set_contains_point_tol(FP_COINCIDENT);
+  PL_->enable_out_of_mesh_mode();
 
   first_element_ = *m_->elements_begin();
 
@@ -2242,13 +2235,7 @@ LibMesh::get_bin(Position r) const
   // quick rejection check
   if (!bbox_.contains_point(p)) { return -1; }
 
-  #ifdef _OPENMP
-  int thread = omp_get_thread_num();
-  #else
-  int thread = 0;
-  #endif
-
-  auto e = (*point_locators_[thread])(p);
+  auto e = (*LibMesh::PL_)(p);
   if (!e) {
     return -1;
   } else {