diff --git a/src/headerlist.c b/src/headerlist.c
index 758e21d..08c68df 100644
--- a/src/headerlist.c
+++ b/src/headerlist.c
@@ -971,11 +971,7 @@ addToHeaderList(struct configTag *ct,
 	/* process package */
         logmsg(LOG_DEBUG, "getting header for %s", filepath);
 
-        sem_t rpm_mutex = getRPMMutex();
-
-        sem_wait(&rpm_mutex);
         if (getHeader(&ts, filepath, &h)) {
-            sem_post(&rpm_mutex);
             errstr = strerror(errno);
             logmsg(LOG_WARNING,
    	               "%s: unable to read header (%s); skipping.",filename, errstr);
@@ -998,7 +994,6 @@ addToHeaderList(struct configTag *ct,
            }
            memset(newheaderlist, 0, sizeof(struct headerList));
            getPackageInfoIntoHeaderList(h, newheaderlist);
-           sem_post(&rpm_mutex);
 
 	   if (!newheaderlist->sourcename) {
 	      logmsg(LOG_WARNING,
diff --git a/src/include/rpmfunctions.h b/src/include/rpmfunctions.h
index d0e87dd..bcc1e07 100644
--- a/src/include/rpmfunctions.h
+++ b/src/include/rpmfunctions.h
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@
 #endif
 #endif
 
-#include <semaphore.h>
 #include <dirent.h>
 
 #define HEADERS_BUFFER_SIZE 2000000
@@ -77,6 +76,4 @@ int scanrpmnamecmp(const struct dirent **f1, const struct dirent **f2);
 
 char* printrpmversion(char *s, int bufsize, long epoch, char *version, char *release);
 
-sem_t getRPMMutex();
-
 #endif                          // RPMFUNCTIONS_H
diff --git a/src/rpmfunctions.c b/src/rpmfunctions.c
index 8f7c659..f2fcb67 100644
--- a/src/rpmfunctions.c
+++ b/src/rpmfunctions.c
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 # include <strings.h>
 #endif
 
+#include <stdlib.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <zlib.h>
 #include <libiberty/libiberty.h>
@@ -35,38 +36,59 @@
 #include "functions.h"
 #include "rpmfunctions.h"
 
-sem_t rpm_mutex;
-
 /*
  * static int getPackageInfo(
  *      Header h, char **name, char **version, char **release,
  *      char **summary); */
 
+struct EVR_s {
+    char *data;
+    uint32_t e;
+    char *v;
+    char *r;
+} EVR;
+
+void rpmEVRsplit(const char* ver, struct EVR_s *evr) {
+    evr->e = 0;
+    evr->v = NULL;
+    evr->r = NULL;
+    evr->data = strdup(ver);
+    for (int i = 0; i < strlen(ver); i++) {
+        if (evr->data[i] == ':') {
+            evr->e = strtoul(ver, NULL, 10);
+            evr->data[i] = '\0';
+            evr->v = &evr->data[i+1];
+        } else if (evr->data[i] == '-') {
+            evr->data[i] = '\0';
+            evr->r = &evr->data[i+1];
+            if (evr->v == NULL) evr->v = evr->data;
+        }
+    }
+    if (evr->v == NULL) evr->v = evr->data;
+}
+
 unsigned int checkVersionWithFlags(const char* cmp1, uint_32 flags, const char* cmp2) {
     int vercmp = 0;
-#if RPM_VERSION_MAJOR >= 5
-     struct EVR_s evr1, evr2;
+    struct EVR_s evr1, evr2;
 
-     sem_wait(&rpm_mutex);
-     rpmEVRparse(cmp1, &evr1);
-     rpmEVRparse(cmp2, &evr2);
-     sem_post(&rpm_mutex);
+    rpmEVRsplit(cmp1, &evr1);
+    rpmEVRsplit(cmp2, &evr2);
 
-     if (strlen(evr1.F[RPMEVR_E]) && strlen(evr2.F[RPMEVR_E])) vercmp=rpmvercmp(evr1.F[RPMEVR_E], evr2.F[RPMEVR_E]);
-     else if (strlen(evr2.F[RPMEVR_E])) vercmp = -1;
-     else if (strlen(evr1.F[RPMEVR_E])) vercmp = 1;
+    if (evr1.e == evr2.e) vercmp = 0;
+    else if (evr1.e > evr2.e) vercmp = 1;
+    else vercmp = -1;
 
-     if (!vercmp) vercmp=rpmvercmp(evr1.F[RPMEVR_V], evr2.F[RPMEVR_V]);
-     if (!vercmp && strlen(evr1.F[RPMEVR_R]) && strlen(evr2.F[RPMEVR_R])) vercmp=rpmvercmp(evr1.F[RPMEVR_R], evr2.F[RPMEVR_R]);
-#else
-    vercmp=rpmvercmp(cmp1, cmp2);
-#endif
+    if (vercmp == 0) vercmp = rpmvercmp(evr1.v, evr2.v);
+    if (vercmp == 0 && evr1.r && evr2.r) vercmp = rpmvercmp(evr1.r, evr2.r);
 
-     if ((vercmp == 0) && (flags & RPMSENSE_EQUAL)) return 1;
-     else if ((vercmp == 1) && (flags & RPMSENSE_LESS)) return 1;
-     else if ((vercmp == -1) && (flags & RPMSENSE_GREATER)) return 1;
+    free(evr1.data);
+    free(evr2.data);
 
-     return 0;
+    if ((vercmp == 0) && (flags & RPMSENSE_EQUAL)) return 1;
+    else if ((vercmp == 1) && (flags & RPMSENSE_LESS)) return 1;
+    else if ((vercmp == -1) && (flags & RPMSENSE_GREATER)) return 1;
+
+    return 0;
 }
 
 /*
@@ -394,15 +416,10 @@ char* printrpmversion(char *s, int bufsize, long epoch, char *version, char *rel
    return s;
 }
 
-sem_t getRPMMutex() {
-    return rpm_mutex;
-}
-
 void rpminit() {
 #if RPM_VERSION >= 0x040100
    rpmReadConfigFiles(NULL, NULL);
 //   ts = rpmtsCreate();
 //   rpmtsSetVSFlags(ts, (rpmVSFlags_e)-1);
 #endif
-   sem_init(&rpm_mutex, 0, 1);
 }