diff --git a/src/runtime.rs b/src/runtime.rs
index 7b5f3da..b71b5c7 100644
--- a/src/runtime.rs
+++ b/src/runtime.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
-use crate::runtime::threads::{
-    LocalThreadAccessError, LocalThreadState, SharedThreadInfo, ShortThreadId,
-};
+use crate::runtime::threads::{LocalThreadAccessError, SharedThreadInfo, ShortThreadId};
 use arbitrary_int::prelude::*;
 use cfg_if::cfg_if;
 use core::ffi::c_void;
@@ -13,6 +11,9 @@ use core::sync::atomic::Ordering;
 
 mod threads;
 
+// TODO: Eliminate this?
+pub use threads::LocalThreadState;
+
 /// An error returned by [`Brc::biased_count`],
 /// either caused by being the wrong thread or not being biased at all.
 ///
@@ -78,24 +79,13 @@ impl RawBrcHeader {
     ///
     /// # Safety
     /// The resulting header must be pinned in-memory before it is ever used.
+    /// The thread id must be correct for this thread, or be `None`.
     ///
     /// # Panics
     /// This function will never unwind, although it may abort.
     #[inline]
-    pub unsafe fn init() -> Self {
-        let this_id = match LocalThreadState::existing_short_id() {
-            Ok(short_id) => Some(short_id),
-            Err(LocalThreadAccessError::Dead | LocalThreadAccessError::IdOverflow(_)) => {
-                // in this case, the local state was already initialized,
-                // but we cannot participate in biased reference counting
-                None
-            }
-            Err(LocalThreadAccessError::Uninitialized) => {
-                // Need to actually initialize the thread state
-                LocalThreadState::init_tid()
-            }
-        };
-        match this_id {
+    pub unsafe fn init_with(this_thread_id: Option<ShortThreadId>) -> Self {
+        match this_thread_id {
             None => RawBrcHeader {
                 shared_word: AtomicUsize::new(
                     SharedWord {
diff --git a/src/runtime/threads.rs b/src/runtime/threads.rs
index a6c7fa1..f38241c 100644
--- a/src/runtime/threads.rs
+++ b/src/runtime/threads.rs
@@ -256,6 +256,34 @@ impl LocalThreadState {
         nounwind::abort_unwind(|| LocalThreadState::with_current(LocalThreadState::short_id).ok())
     }
 
+    /// Either call [`collect`] or initialize the thread state,
+    /// depending on the previous thread state.
+    ///
+    /// This function is a performance experiment.
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn collect_or_init_tid() -> Option<ShortThreadId> {
+        let (current_status, thread_id) =
+            THIS_THREAD_STATE_FAST.with(|state| (state.status.get(), state.short_id.get()));
+        match current_status {
+            LocalThreadStatus::DeadOrDying => None,
+            LocalThreadStatus::Uninit => Self::collect_or_init_tid_slow(),
+            LocalThreadStatus::Active if Self::currently_needs_collect() => {
+                Self::collect_or_init_tid_slow()
+            }
+            LocalThreadStatus::Active => thread_id,
+        }
+    }
+    #[inline(never)]
+    #[cold]
+    fn collect_or_init_tid_slow() -> Option<ShortThreadId> {
+        if Self::currently_needs_collect() {
+            crate::collect();
+            THIS_THREAD_STATE_FAST.with(|state| state.short_id.get())
+        } else {
+            Self::init_tid()
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Access the current thread info inside the specified closure.
     ///
     /// # Safety
diff --git a/src/strong.rs b/src/strong.rs
index 1417ce0..2777f0f 100644
--- a/src/strong.rs
+++ b/src/strong.rs
@@ -95,11 +95,7 @@ impl<T, A: Allocator> Brc<T, A> {
     /// using a particular allocator.
     #[inline]
     pub fn new_in(value: T, alloc: A) -> Self {
-        // There is no advantage to waiting for BrcRawHeader::init to initialize the thread state.
-        // This is because if the thread state is uninitialized,
-        // the queue is empty and collection would be a no-op anyway.
-        #[cfg(not(biasedrc_no_implicit_collect))]
-        collect();
+        let thread_id = runtime::LocalThreadState::collect_or_init_tid();
         // This function used to be implemented as Self::new_with(|| value).
         // While correct, this caused code bloat and was noticeably slower than Arc::new.
         //
@@ -125,7 +121,8 @@ impl<T, A: Allocator> Brc<T, A> {
         // If we are wrong, we just leak the newly allocated memory
         let header = BrcHeader {
             // SAFETY: Pinned in memory immediately after construction.
-            strong: unsafe { RawBrcHeader::init() },
+            // Thread id is correct for this thread.
+            strong: unsafe { RawBrcHeader::init_with(thread_id) },
             weak_count: AtomicU32::new(1),
             alloc: ManuallyDrop::new(alloc),
         };
@@ -299,8 +296,7 @@ impl<T: ?Sized + SupportedPointee, A: Allocator> Brc<T, A> {
         func: impl FnOnce(*mut T),
         alloc: A,
     ) -> Self {
-        #[cfg(not(biasedrc_no_implicit_collect))]
-        collect();
+        let this_thread_id = runtime::LocalThreadState::collect_or_init_tid();
         let layout = LayoutInfo::<A>::new_or_panic(layout);
         struct CleanupGuard<A: Allocator> {
             ptr: NonNull<u8>,
@@ -330,9 +326,12 @@ impl<T: ?Sized + SupportedPointee, A: Allocator> Brc<T, A> {
         }
         // SAFETY: Memory is newly allocated so it is known to be valid
         // The RawBrcHeader is pinned immediately after it is created
-        // we just verified above that the field offset is zero
+        // and we just verified above that the field offset is zero.
+        // We also know that `this_thread_id` is valid
         unsafe {
-            allocated.cast::<RawBrcHeader>().write(RawBrcHeader::init());
+            allocated
+                .cast::<RawBrcHeader>()
+                .write(RawBrcHeader::init_with(this_thread_id));
         }
         // SAFETY: Newly allocated memory is valid
         unsafe {