diff --git a/pyop3/config.py b/pyop3/config.py
index c19d7aed..33053a46 100644
--- a/pyop3/config.py
+++ b/pyop3/config.py
@@ -41,16 +41,6 @@ class Configuration(dict):
         cdim > 1 be built as block sparsities, or dof sparsities.  The
         former saves memory but changes which preconditioners are
         available for the resulting matrices.  (Default yes)
-    :param thread_model: Thread support provided by the underlying OS. This
-        is used for the interleaving of computation and communication in parallel
-        loops. Possible values are:
-
-        * "SINGLE": Only a single thread is supported.
-        * "SERIALIZED": Multiple threads are allowed but only one may make MPI calls.
-        * "MULTIPLE": Multiple threads are allowed and they can all make MPI calls.
-                      This is the default.
-
-        Note that these names have been drawn from MPI_Init_thread terminology.
 
     """
     # name, env variable, type, default, write once
@@ -74,7 +64,6 @@ class Configuration(dict):
         "print_cache_size": ("PYOP3_PRINT_CACHE_SIZE", bool, False),
         "matnest": ("PYOP3_MATNEST", bool, True),
         "block_sparsity": ("PYOP3_BLOCK_SPARSITY", bool, True),
-        "thread_model": ("PYOP3_THREAD_MODEL", str, "MULTIPLE"),
     }
     """Default values for PyOP2 configuration parameters"""
 
diff --git a/pyop3/lang.py b/pyop3/lang.py
index de2e07a1..0409530d 100644
--- a/pyop3/lang.py
+++ b/pyop3/lang.py
@@ -253,59 +253,28 @@ def _array_updates(self):
         (initializers, (finalizers0, finalizers1))
             Collections of callables to be executed at the right times.
 
-        Notes
-        -----
-        To avoid blocking, updates are done using a different Python thread per
-        array per operation. The function returns a tuple of initializer callables
-        that trigger the operations, as well as two collections of finalizer callables.
-        These are separated into those that must be complete for "root" points to be
-        valid, and those that must be complete for "leaf" points to be valid.
-
-        This does not release the GIL but this is acceptable for this application.
-
         """
-        # NOTE: It is safe to include reductions in the finalizers because
-        # core entities (in the iterset) are defined as being those that do
-        # not overlap with any points in the star forest.
-        if config["thread_model"] in {"SINGLE", "SERIALIZED"}:
-            # SINGLE means other threads cannot be used and SERIALIZED means
-            # that ghost exchanges can only be done on a single thread
-            raise NotImplementedError
-
         initializers = []
         finalizerss = ([], [])
         for array, intent, touches_ghost_points in self._distarray_args:
             if intent in {READ, RW}:
                 if touches_ghost_points:
                     if not array._roots_valid:
-                        bcast_thread = threading.Thread(
-                            action=array._broadcast_roots_to_leaves,
-                        )
-                        # As soon as the reduction is done we start the broadcast. This
-                        # is done on a different thread so we can use the termination of
-                        # the original thread as a finalizer.
-                        reduce_thread = threading.Thread(
-                            action=map(
-                                operator.call,
-                                [array._reduce_leaves_to_roots, bcast_thread.start],
-                            )
+                        initializers.append(array._reduce_leaves_to_roots_begin)
+                        finalizerss[0].extend(
+                            [
+                                array._reduce_leaves_to_roots_end,
+                                array._broadcast_roots_to_leaves_begin,
+                            ]
                         )
-                        initializers.append(reduce_thread.start)
-                        finalizerss[0].append(reduce_thread.join)
-                        finalizerss[1].append(bcast_thread.join)
+                        finalizerss[1].append(array._broadcast_roots_to_leaves_end)
                     else:
-                        thread = threading.Thread(
-                            action=array._broadcast_roots_to_leaves
-                        )
-                        initializers.append(thread.start)
-                        finalizerss[1].append(thread.join)
+                        initializers.append(array._broadcast_roots_to_leaves_begin)
+                        finalizerss[1].append(array._broadcast_roots_to_leaves_end)
                 else:
                     if not array._roots_valid:
-                        thread = threading.Thread(
-                            action=array._reduce_leaves_to_roots,
-                        )
-                        initializers.append(thread.start)
-                        finalizerss[0].append(thread.join)
+                        initializers.append(array._reduce_leaves_to_roots_begin)
+                        finalizerss[0].append(array._reduce_leaves_to_roots_end)
 
             elif intent == WRITE:
                 # Assumes that all points are written to (i.e. not a subset). If
@@ -328,11 +297,8 @@ def _array_updates(self):
                     # explained in the documentation.
                     if intent in {INC, MIN_RW, MAX_RW}:
                         assert array._pending_reduction is not None
-                        thread = threading.Thread(
-                            action=array._reduce_leaves_to_roots,
-                        )
-                        initializers.append(thread.start)
-                        finalizerss[0].append(thread.join)
+                        initializers.append(array._reduce_leaves_to_roots_begin)
+                        finalizerss[0].append(array._reduce_leaves_to_roots_end)
 
                 # We are modifying owned values so the leaves must now be wrong
                 array._leaves_valid = False