diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 6b147d243..98fed4b61 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ For a complete change history, see the SVN log.
 Mapnik Trunk
 ------------
 
+- Optimized rendering speeds by avoiding locking the projection code (r2063)
+
 - Added support for setting global alignment of polygon pattern fills (#203)
 
 - Added support for choosing OGR layer by index number using 'layer_by_index' parameter (r1904)
diff --git a/include/mapnik/proj_transform.hpp b/include/mapnik/proj_transform.hpp
index 479617284..f2f4dbcab 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/proj_transform.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/proj_transform.hpp
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ public:
     proj_transform(projection const& source, 
                    projection const& dest);
         
+    bool equal() const;
     bool forward (double& x, double& y , double& z) const;
     bool backward (double& x, double& y , double& z) const;
     mapnik::projection const& source() const;
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@ private:
     projection const& dest_;
     bool is_source_latlong_;
     bool is_dest_latlong_;
-    bool is_source_equal_dest;
+    bool is_source_equal_dest_;
 };
 }
 
diff --git a/include/mapnik/projection.hpp b/include/mapnik/projection.hpp
index 31f9372d1..a9a78cd1e 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/projection.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/projection.hpp
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ private:
 private:
     std::string params_;
     void * proj_;
+    bool is_geographic_;
 #ifdef MAPNIK_THREADSAFE
     static boost::mutex mutex_;
 #endif
diff --git a/src/proj_transform.cpp b/src/proj_transform.cpp
index 9b2846be3..44c1179ff 100644
--- a/src/proj_transform.cpp
+++ b/src/proj_transform.cpp
@@ -35,20 +35,19 @@ proj_transform::proj_transform(projection const& source,
     : source_(source),
       dest_(dest) 
 {
-#ifdef MAPNIK_THREADSAFE
-    mutex::scoped_lock lock(projection::mutex_);
-#endif
-    is_source_latlong_ = pj_is_latlong(source_.proj_) ? true : false;
-    is_dest_latlong_ = pj_is_latlong(dest_.proj_) ? true : false ;
-    is_source_equal_dest = (source_ == dest_);
+    is_source_latlong_ = source_.is_geographic();
+    is_dest_latlong_ = dest_.is_geographic();
+    is_source_equal_dest_ = (source_ == dest_);
 }
-    
+
+bool proj_transform::equal() const
+{
+    return is_source_equal_dest_;
+}
+
 bool proj_transform::forward (double & x, double & y , double & z) const
 {
-#ifdef MAPNIK_THREADSAFE
-    mutex::scoped_lock lock(projection::mutex_);
-#endif
-    if (is_source_equal_dest)
+    if (is_source_equal_dest_)
         return true;
 
     if (is_source_latlong_)
@@ -56,6 +55,10 @@ bool proj_transform::forward (double & x, double & y , double & z) const
         x *= DEG_TO_RAD;
         y *= DEG_TO_RAD;
     }
+
+#ifdef MAPNIK_THREADSAFE
+    mutex::scoped_lock lock(projection::mutex_);
+#endif
         
     if (pj_transform( source_.proj_, dest_.proj_, 1, 
                       0, &x,&y,&z) != 0)
@@ -74,10 +77,7 @@ bool proj_transform::forward (double & x, double & y , double & z) const
         
 bool proj_transform::backward (double & x, double & y , double & z) const
 {
-#ifdef MAPNIK_THREADSAFE
-    mutex::scoped_lock lock(projection::mutex_);
-#endif
-    if (is_source_equal_dest)
+    if (is_source_equal_dest_)
         return true;
       
     if (is_dest_latlong_)
@@ -86,6 +86,10 @@ bool proj_transform::backward (double & x, double & y , double & z) const
         y *= DEG_TO_RAD;
     }
         
+#ifdef MAPNIK_THREADSAFE
+    mutex::scoped_lock lock(projection::mutex_);
+#endif
+
     if (pj_transform( dest_.proj_, source_.proj_, 1, 
                       0, &x,&y,&z) != 0)
     {
diff --git a/src/projection.cpp b/src/projection.cpp
index 235a5123b..e7f091201 100644
--- a/src/projection.cpp
+++ b/src/projection.cpp
@@ -70,10 +70,7 @@ bool projection::is_initialized() const
     
 bool projection::is_geographic() const
 {
-#ifdef MAPNIK_THREADSAFE
-    mutex::scoped_lock lock(mutex_);
-#endif
-    return pj_is_latlong(proj_) ? true : false;  
+    return is_geographic_;
 }
     
 std::string const& projection::params() const
@@ -92,7 +89,7 @@ void projection::forward(double & x, double &y ) const
     p = pj_fwd(p,proj_);
     x = p.u;
     y = p.v;
-    if (pj_is_latlong(proj_))
+    if (is_geographic_)
     {
         x *=RAD_TO_DEG;
         y *=RAD_TO_DEG;
@@ -104,7 +101,7 @@ void projection::inverse(double & x,double & y) const
 #ifdef MAPNIK_THREADSAFE
     mutex::scoped_lock lock(mutex_);
 #endif
-    if (pj_is_latlong(proj_))
+    if (is_geographic_)
     {
         x *=DEG_TO_RAD;
         y *=DEG_TO_RAD;
@@ -127,11 +124,13 @@ projection::~projection()
     
 void projection::init()
 {
-#ifdef MAPNIK_THREADSAFE
+// http://trac.osgeo.org/proj/wiki/ThreadSafety
+#if PJ_VERSION < 470 && MAPNIK_THREADSAFE
     mutex::scoped_lock lock(mutex_);
 #endif
     proj_=pj_init_plus(params_.c_str());
     if (!proj_) throw proj_init_error(params_);
+    is_geographic_ = pj_is_latlong(proj_) ? true : false;
 }
     
 void projection::swap (projection& rhs)