diff --git a/panda/src/pipeline/threadPosixImpl.cxx b/panda/src/pipeline/threadPosixImpl.cxx
index 0d88c5ebe8..cdabf033c8 100644
--- a/panda/src/pipeline/threadPosixImpl.cxx
+++ b/panda/src/pipeline/threadPosixImpl.cxx
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ ThreadPosixImpl::
 void ThreadPosixImpl::
 setup_main_thread() {
   _status = S_running;
+  _thread = pthread_self();
 }
 
 /**