diff --git a/include/proto/shctx.h b/include/proto/shctx.h
index a84e4a677..e0c695d1b 100644
--- a/include/proto/shctx.h
+++ b/include/proto/shctx.h
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@
 #define SHCTX_APPNAME "haproxy"
 #endif
 
+#define SHCTX_E_ALLOC_CACHE -1
+#define SHCTX_E_INIT_LOCK   -2
+
 /* Allocate shared memory context.
  * <size> is the number of allocated blocks into cache (default 128 bytes)
  * A block is large enough to contain a classic session (without client cert)
diff --git a/src/cfgparse.c b/src/cfgparse.c
index c4f092fa9..7176b5943 100644
--- a/src/cfgparse.c
+++ b/src/cfgparse.c
@@ -6744,6 +6744,8 @@ out_uri_auth_compat:
 		 * remains NULL so that listeners can later detach.
 		 */
 		list_for_each_entry(bind_conf, &curproxy->conf.bind, by_fe) {
+			int alloc_ctx;
+
 			if (!bind_conf->is_ssl) {
 				if (bind_conf->default_ctx) {
 					Warning("Proxy '%s': A certificate was specified but SSL was not enabled on bind '%s' at [%s:%d] (use 'ssl').\n",
@@ -6758,10 +6760,18 @@ out_uri_auth_compat:
 				continue;
 			}
 
-			if (shared_context_init(global.tune.sslcachesize, (global.nbproc > 1) ? 1 : 0) < 0) {
-				Alert("Unable to allocate SSL session cache.\n");
-				cfgerr++;
-				continue;
+			alloc_ctx = shared_context_init(global.tune.sslcachesize, (global.nbproc > 1) ? 1 : 0);
+			if (alloc_ctx < 0) {
+				if (alloc_ctx == SHCTX_E_INIT_LOCK) {
+					Warning("Unable to init lock for the shared SSL session cache. Falling back to private cache.\n");
+					alloc_ctx = shared_context_init(global.tune.sslcachesize, 0);
+				}
+
+				if (alloc_ctx < 0) {
+					Alert("Unable to allocate SSL session cache.\n");
+					cfgerr++;
+					continue;
+				}
 			}
 
 			/* initialize all certificate contexts */
diff --git a/src/shctx.c b/src/shctx.c
index f259b9c1c..86e605651 100644
--- a/src/shctx.c
+++ b/src/shctx.c
@@ -532,19 +532,36 @@ int shared_context_init(int size, int shared)
 	                                      PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, maptype | MAP_ANON, -1, 0);
 	if (!shctx || shctx == MAP_FAILED) {
 		shctx = NULL;
-		return -1;
+		return SHCTX_E_ALLOC_CACHE;
 	}
 
 #ifndef USE_PRIVATE_CACHE
+	if (maptype == MAP_SHARED) {
 #ifdef USE_SYSCALL_FUTEX
-	shctx->waiters = 0;
+		shctx->waiters = 0;
 #else
-	pthread_mutexattr_init(&attr);
-	pthread_mutexattr_setpshared(&attr, PTHREAD_PROCESS_SHARED);
-	pthread_mutex_init(&shctx->mutex, &attr);
+		if (pthread_mutexattr_init(&attr)) {
+			munmap(shctx, sizeof(struct shared_context)+(size*sizeof(struct shared_block)));
+			shctx = NULL;
+			return SHCTX_E_INIT_LOCK;
+		}
+
+		if (pthread_mutexattr_setpshared(&attr, PTHREAD_PROCESS_SHARED)) {
+			pthread_mutexattr_destroy(&attr);
+			munmap(shctx, sizeof(struct shared_context)+(size*sizeof(struct shared_block)));
+			shctx = NULL;
+			return SHCTX_E_INIT_LOCK;
+		}
+
+		if (pthread_mutex_init(&shctx->mutex, &attr)) {
+			pthread_mutexattr_destroy(&attr);
+			munmap(shctx, sizeof(struct shared_context)+(size*sizeof(struct shared_block)));
+			shctx = NULL;
+			return SHCTX_E_INIT_LOCK;
+		}
 #endif
-	if (maptype == MAP_SHARED)
 		use_shared_mem = 1;
+	}
 #endif
 
 	memset(&shctx->active.data.session.key, 0, sizeof(struct ebmb_node));