diff --git a/src/python/pose_format/pose_header.py b/src/python/pose_format/pose_header.py
index 3640573..c334c3b 100644
--- a/src/python/pose_format/pose_header.py
+++ b/src/python/pose_format/pose_header.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import hashlib
 import math
 import struct
+import threading
 from typing import BinaryIO, List, Tuple, Optional, Union
 
 from .utils.reader import BufferReader, ConstStructs
@@ -230,36 +231,45 @@ def __str__(self):
 
 
 class PoseHeaderCache:
+    # All access goes through _lock: an unsynchronized reader races with set_cache and
+    # can observe a half-updated cache (e.g. the new header with the old hash/offsets).
+    # check_cache therefore also returns end_offset, so callers position their reader
+    # from the same consistent snapshot instead of re-reading the class attribute.
     start_offset: int = None
     end_offset: int = None
     hash: str = None
     header: 'PoseHeader' = None
+    _lock = threading.Lock()
 
     @staticmethod
     def calc_hash(buffer: bytes):
         return hashlib.md5(buffer[PoseHeaderCache.start_offset:PoseHeaderCache.end_offset]).hexdigest()
 
     @staticmethod
-    def check_cache(buffer: bytes) -> 'PoseHeader':
-        if PoseHeaderCache.hash is None:
-            return None
+    def check_cache(buffer: bytes) -> Optional[Tuple['PoseHeader', int]]:
+        with PoseHeaderCache._lock:
+            if PoseHeaderCache.hash is None:
+                return None
 
-        if PoseHeaderCache.hash == PoseHeaderCache.calc_hash(buffer):
-            return PoseHeaderCache.header
+            if PoseHeaderCache.hash == PoseHeaderCache.calc_hash(buffer):
+                return PoseHeaderCache.header, PoseHeaderCache.end_offset
+            return None
 
     @staticmethod
     def clear_cache():
-        PoseHeaderCache.start_offset = None
-        PoseHeaderCache.end_offset = None
-        PoseHeaderCache.hash = None
-        PoseHeaderCache.header = None
+        with PoseHeaderCache._lock:
+            PoseHeaderCache.start_offset = None
+            PoseHeaderCache.end_offset = None
+            PoseHeaderCache.hash = None
+            PoseHeaderCache.header = None
 
     @staticmethod
     def set_cache(header: 'PoseHeader', buffer: bytes, start_offset: int, end_offset: int):
-        PoseHeaderCache.start_offset = start_offset
-        PoseHeaderCache.end_offset = end_offset
-        PoseHeaderCache.header = header
-        PoseHeaderCache.hash = PoseHeaderCache.calc_hash(buffer)
+        with PoseHeaderCache._lock:
+            PoseHeaderCache.start_offset = start_offset
+            PoseHeaderCache.end_offset = end_offset
+            PoseHeaderCache.header = header
+            PoseHeaderCache.hash = PoseHeaderCache.calc_hash(buffer)
 
 
 class PoseHeader:
@@ -317,9 +327,12 @@ def read(reader: BufferReader) -> 'PoseHeader':
         PoseHeader
             An instance of PoseHeader.
         """
-        cached_header = PoseHeaderCache.check_cache(reader.buffer)
-        if cached_header is not None:
-            reader.read_offset = PoseHeaderCache.end_offset
+        cached = PoseHeaderCache.check_cache(reader.buffer)
+        if cached is not None:
+            # header and end_offset come from the same atomic cache snapshot -- reading
+            # PoseHeaderCache.end_offset here instead would race with concurrent set_cache
+            cached_header, end_offset = cached
+            reader.read_offset = end_offset
             return cached_header
 
         start_offset = reader.read_offset
diff --git a/src/python/tests/pose_test.py b/src/python/tests/pose_test.py
index 514e27d..a05841d 100644
--- a/src/python/tests/pose_test.py
+++ b/src/python/tests/pose_test.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import random
 import string
+from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Optional, Tuple
 from unittest import TestCase
@@ -340,6 +341,30 @@ def test_read_empty_pose_body_shape_matches_numpy_pose_body(self):
                 self.assertEqual(empty_pose.body.confidence.shape, numpy_pose.body.confidence.shape)
                 self.assertEqual(empty_pose.body.fps, numpy_pose.body.fps)
 
+    def test_concurrent_read_of_different_files_is_safe(self):
+        # Regression test: PoseHeaderCache used to be updated non-atomically, so
+        # concurrent Pose.read calls on files with different headers could crash
+        # ("buffer is too small for requested array") or, worse, silently return a
+        # pose parsed with another file's header.
+        data_dir = Path(__file__).parent / "data"
+        buffers = {}
+        expected = {}
+        for name in ["mediapipe.pose", "openpose.pose"]:
+            with open(data_dir / name, 'rb') as f:
+                buffers[name] = f.read()
+            pose = Pose.read(buffers[name])
+            expected[name] = ([c.name for c in pose.header.components], pose.body.data.shape)
+
+        def read_one(name):
+            pose = Pose.read(buffers[name])
+            return name, ([c.name for c in pose.header.components], pose.body.data.shape)
+
+        names = list(buffers.keys()) * 4
+        with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=8) as executor:
+            for _ in range(30):
+                for name, got in executor.map(read_one, names):
+                    self.assertEqual(expected[name], got)
+
     def test_pose_bbox(self):
         data_dir = Path(__file__).parent / "data"
         with open(data_dir / 'mediapipe.pose', 'rb') as f: