diff --git a/src/hidapi/SDL_hidapi.c b/src/hidapi/SDL_hidapi.c
index 6ca699c642..2dda506b89 100644
--- a/src/hidapi/SDL_hidapi.c
+++ b/src/hidapi/SDL_hidapi.c
@@ -528,7 +528,8 @@ static void HIDAPI_ShutdownDiscovery(void)
 
 /* Platform HIDAPI Implementation */
 
-#define HIDAPI_IGNORE_DEVICE(VID, PID)  SDL_HIDAPI_ShouldIgnoreDevice(VID, PID)
+#define HIDAPI_USING_SDL_RUNTIME
+#define HIDAPI_IGNORE_DEVICE(VID, PID)      SDL_HIDAPI_ShouldIgnoreDevice(VID, PID)
 
 struct PLATFORM_hid_device_;
 typedef struct PLATFORM_hid_device_ PLATFORM_hid_device;
@@ -1034,17 +1035,6 @@ static void CopyHIDDeviceInfo(struct hid_device_info *pSrc, struct SDL_hid_devic
 static int SDL_hidapi_refcount = 0;
 static char *SDL_hidapi_ignored_devices = NULL;
 
-static void SDL_SetHIDAPIError(const wchar_t *error)
-{
-    if (error) {
-        char *error_utf8 = SDL_iconv_wchar_utf8(error);
-        if (error_utf8) {
-            SDL_SetError("%s", error_utf8);
-            SDL_free(error_utf8);
-        }
-    }
-}
-
 static void SDLCALL IgnoredDevicesChanged(void *userdata, const char *name, const char *oldValue, const char *hint)
 {
     if (SDL_hidapi_ignored_devices) {
@@ -1491,93 +1481,51 @@ SDL_hid_device *SDL_hid_open_path(const char *path)
 
 int SDL_hid_write(SDL_hid_device *device, const unsigned char *data, size_t length)
 {
-    int result;
-
     CHECK_DEVICE_MAGIC(device, -1);
 
-    result = device->backend->hid_write(device->device, data, length);
-    if (result < 0) {
-        SDL_SetHIDAPIError(device->backend->hid_error(device->device));
-    }
-    return result;
+    return device->backend->hid_write(device->device, data, length);
 }
 
 int SDL_hid_read_timeout(SDL_hid_device *device, unsigned char *data, size_t length, int milliseconds)
 {
-    int result;
-
     CHECK_DEVICE_MAGIC(device, -1);
 
-    result = device->backend->hid_read_timeout(device->device, data, length, milliseconds);
-    if (result < 0) {
-        SDL_SetHIDAPIError(device->backend->hid_error(device->device));
-    }
-    return result;
+    return device->backend->hid_read_timeout(device->device, data, length, milliseconds);
 }
 
 int SDL_hid_read(SDL_hid_device *device, unsigned char *data, size_t length)
 {
-    int result;
-
     CHECK_DEVICE_MAGIC(device, -1);
 
-    result = device->backend->hid_read(device->device, data, length);
-    if (result < 0) {
-        SDL_SetHIDAPIError(device->backend->hid_error(device->device));
-    }
-    return result;
+    return device->backend->hid_read(device->device, data, length);
 }
 
 int SDL_hid_set_nonblocking(SDL_hid_device *device, int nonblock)
 {
-    int result;
-
     CHECK_DEVICE_MAGIC(device, -1);
 
-    result = device->backend->hid_set_nonblocking(device->device, nonblock);
-    if (result < 0) {
-        SDL_SetHIDAPIError(device->backend->hid_error(device->device));
-    }
-    return result;
+    return device->backend->hid_set_nonblocking(device->device, nonblock);
 }
 
 int SDL_hid_send_feature_report(SDL_hid_device *device, const unsigned char *data, size_t length)
 {
-    int result;
-
     CHECK_DEVICE_MAGIC(device, -1);
 
-    result = device->backend->hid_send_feature_report(device->device, data, length);
-    if (result < 0) {
-        SDL_SetHIDAPIError(device->backend->hid_error(device->device));
-    }
-    return result;
+    return device->backend->hid_send_feature_report(device->device, data, length);
 }
 
 int SDL_hid_get_feature_report(SDL_hid_device *device, unsigned char *data, size_t length)
 {
-    int result;
-
     CHECK_DEVICE_MAGIC(device, -1);
 
-    result = device->backend->hid_get_feature_report(device->device, data, length);
-    if (result < 0) {
-        SDL_SetHIDAPIError(device->backend->hid_error(device->device));
-    }
-    return result;
+    return device->backend->hid_get_feature_report(device->device, data, length);
 }
 
 int SDL_hid_get_input_report(SDL_hid_device *device, unsigned char *data, size_t length)
 {
-    int result;
-
     CHECK_DEVICE_MAGIC(device, -1);
 
-    result = device->backend->hid_get_input_report(device->device, data, length);
-    if (result < 0) {
-        SDL_SetHIDAPIError(device->backend->hid_error(device->device));
-    }
-    return result;
+    return device->backend->hid_get_input_report(device->device, data, length);
 }
 
 int SDL_hid_close(SDL_hid_device *device)
@@ -1591,54 +1539,30 @@ int SDL_hid_close(SDL_hid_device *device)
 
 int SDL_hid_get_manufacturer_string(SDL_hid_device *device, wchar_t *string, size_t maxlen)
 {
-    int result;
-
     CHECK_DEVICE_MAGIC(device, -1);
 
-    result = device->backend->hid_get_manufacturer_string(device->device, string, maxlen);
-    if (result < 0) {
-        SDL_SetHIDAPIError(device->backend->hid_error(device->device));
-    }
-    return result;
+    return device->backend->hid_get_manufacturer_string(device->device, string, maxlen);
 }
 
 int SDL_hid_get_product_string(SDL_hid_device *device, wchar_t *string, size_t maxlen)
 {
-    int result;
-
     CHECK_DEVICE_MAGIC(device, -1);
 
-    result = device->backend->hid_get_product_string(device->device, string, maxlen);
-    if (result < 0) {
-        SDL_SetHIDAPIError(device->backend->hid_error(device->device));
-    }
-    return result;
+    return device->backend->hid_get_product_string(device->device, string, maxlen);
 }
 
 int SDL_hid_get_serial_number_string(SDL_hid_device *device, wchar_t *string, size_t maxlen)
 {
-    int result;
-
     CHECK_DEVICE_MAGIC(device, -1);
 
-    result = device->backend->hid_get_serial_number_string(device->device, string, maxlen);
-    if (result < 0) {
-        SDL_SetHIDAPIError(device->backend->hid_error(device->device));
-    }
-    return result;
+    return device->backend->hid_get_serial_number_string(device->device, string, maxlen);
 }
 
 int SDL_hid_get_indexed_string(SDL_hid_device *device, int string_index, wchar_t *string, size_t maxlen)
 {
-    int result;
-
     CHECK_DEVICE_MAGIC(device, -1);
 
-    result = device->backend->hid_get_indexed_string(device->device, string_index, string, maxlen);
-    if (result < 0) {
-        SDL_SetHIDAPIError(device->backend->hid_error(device->device));
-    }
-    return result;
+    return device->backend->hid_get_indexed_string(device->device, string_index, string, maxlen);
 }
 
 SDL_hid_device_info *SDL_hid_get_device_info(SDL_hid_device *device)
@@ -1652,22 +1576,15 @@ SDL_hid_device_info *SDL_hid_get_device_info(SDL_hid_device *device)
         CopyHIDDeviceInfo(info, &device->info);
         return &device->info;
     } else {
-        SDL_SetHIDAPIError(device->backend->hid_error(device->device));
         return NULL;
     }
 }
 
 int SDL_hid_get_report_descriptor(SDL_hid_device *device, unsigned char *buf, size_t buf_size)
 {
-    int result;
-
     CHECK_DEVICE_MAGIC(device, -1);
 
-    result = device->backend->hid_get_report_descriptor(device->device, buf, buf_size);
-    if (result < 0) {
-        SDL_SetHIDAPIError(device->backend->hid_error(device->device));
-    }
-    return result;
+    return device->backend->hid_get_report_descriptor(device->device, buf, buf_size);
 }
 
 void SDL_hid_ble_scan(SDL_bool active)
diff --git a/src/hidapi/SDL_hidapi_libusb.h b/src/hidapi/SDL_hidapi_libusb.h
index e0a1248338..c3dc83d4cf 100644
--- a/src/hidapi/SDL_hidapi_libusb.h
+++ b/src/hidapi/SDL_hidapi_libusb.h
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
 */
 
 /* Define standard library functions in terms of SDL */
-#define HIDAPI_USING_SDL_RUNTIME
 #define free    SDL_free
 #define iconv_t         SDL_iconv_t
 #define ICONV_CONST
diff --git a/src/hidapi/SDL_hidapi_windows.h b/src/hidapi/SDL_hidapi_windows.h
index e0fbd473e4..de1c5f70ab 100644
--- a/src/hidapi/SDL_hidapi_windows.h
+++ b/src/hidapi/SDL_hidapi_windows.h
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
 */
 
 /* Define standard library functions in terms of SDL */
-#define HIDAPI_USING_SDL_RUNTIME
 #define calloc      SDL_calloc
 #define free        SDL_free
 #define malloc      SDL_malloc
diff --git a/src/hidapi/linux/hid.c b/src/hidapi/linux/hid.c
index 9498a85569..7274aeff96 100644
--- a/src/hidapi/linux/hid.c
+++ b/src/hidapi/linux/hid.c
@@ -131,7 +131,12 @@ static wchar_t *utf8_to_wchar_t(const char *utf8)
 static void register_error_str(wchar_t **error_str, const char *msg)
 {
 	free(*error_str);
+#ifdef HIDAPI_USING_SDL_RUNTIME
+	/* Thread-safe error handling */
+	SDL_SetError("%s", msg);
+#else
 	*error_str = utf8_to_wchar_t(msg);
+#endif
 }
 
 /* Semilar to register_error_str, but allows passing a format string with va_list args into this function. */
diff --git a/src/hidapi/mac/hid.c b/src/hidapi/mac/hid.c
index 9bc4d52cfc..20e898e7e0 100644
--- a/src/hidapi/mac/hid.c
+++ b/src/hidapi/mac/hid.c
@@ -244,7 +244,12 @@ static wchar_t *utf8_to_wchar_t(const char *utf8)
 static void register_error_str(wchar_t **error_str, const char *msg)
 {
 	free(*error_str);
+#ifdef HIDAPI_USING_SDL_RUNTIME
+	/* Thread-safe error handling */
+	SDL_SetError("%s", msg);
+#else
 	*error_str = utf8_to_wchar_t(msg);
+#endif
 }
 
 /* Similar to register_error_str, but allows passing a format string with va_list args into this function. */
diff --git a/src/hidapi/windows/hid.c b/src/hidapi/windows/hid.c
index b7389d7120..992affb712 100644
--- a/src/hidapi/windows/hid.c
+++ b/src/hidapi/windows/hid.c
@@ -285,8 +285,7 @@ static void register_winapi_error_to_buffer(wchar_t **error_buffer, const WCHAR
 		+ system_err_len
 		;
 
-	*error_buffer = (WCHAR *)calloc(msg_len + 1, sizeof (WCHAR));
-	WCHAR *msg = *error_buffer;
+	WCHAR *msg = (WCHAR *)calloc(msg_len + 1, sizeof (WCHAR));
 
 	if (!msg)
 		return;
@@ -307,6 +306,18 @@ static void register_winapi_error_to_buffer(wchar_t **error_buffer, const WCHAR
 		msg[msg_len-1] = L'\0';
 		msg_len--;
 	}
+
+#ifdef HIDAPI_USING_SDL_RUNTIME
+	/* Thread-safe error handling */
+	char *error_utf8 = SDL_iconv_wchar_utf8(msg);
+	if (error_utf8) {
+		SDL_SetError("%s", error_utf8);
+		SDL_free(error_utf8);
+	}
+	free(msg);
+#else
+	*error_buffer = msg;
+#endif
 }
 
 #if defined(__GNUC__)
@@ -324,7 +335,16 @@ static void register_string_error_to_buffer(wchar_t **error_buffer, const WCHAR
 	*error_buffer = NULL;
 
 	if (string_error) {
+#ifdef HIDAPI_USING_SDL_RUNTIME
+		/* Thread-safe error handling */
+		char *error_utf8 = SDL_iconv_wchar_utf8(string_error);
+		if (error_utf8) {
+			SDL_SetError("%s", error_utf8);
+			SDL_free(error_utf8);
+		}
+#else
 		*error_buffer = _wcsdup(string_error);
+#endif
 	}
 }