diff --git a/retrieval/target.go b/retrieval/target.go
index bc52e41e7..b9604c2e9 100644
--- a/retrieval/target.go
+++ b/retrieval/target.go
@@ -262,3 +262,17 @@ func (t *target) Merge(newTarget Target) {
 	}
 	t.baseLabels = newTarget.BaseLabels()
 }
+
+type targets []Target
+
+func (t targets) Len() int {
+	return len(t)
+}
+
+func (t targets) Less(i, j int) bool {
+	return t[i].scheduledFor().Before(t[j].scheduledFor())
+}
+
+func (t targets) Swap(i, j int) {
+	t[i], t[j] = t[j], t[i]
+}
diff --git a/retrieval/targetpool.go b/retrieval/targetpool.go
index 32e0cf606..6a3b39d4d 100644
--- a/retrieval/targetpool.go
+++ b/retrieval/targetpool.go
@@ -14,50 +14,46 @@
 package retrieval
 
 import (
-	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/retrieval/format"
 	"log"
 	"sort"
+	"sync"
 	"time"
+
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/retrieval/format"
 )
 
 const (
 	intervalKey = "interval"
+
+	targetAddQueueSize     = 100
+	targetReplaceQueueSize = 1
 )
 
 type TargetPool struct {
+	sync.RWMutex
+
 	done                chan bool
 	manager             TargetManager
-	targets             []Target
+	targets             targets
 	addTargetQueue      chan Target
-	replaceTargetsQueue chan []Target
+	replaceTargetsQueue chan targets
 }
 
 func NewTargetPool(m TargetManager) *TargetPool {
 	return &TargetPool{
 		manager:             m,
-		addTargetQueue:      make(chan Target),
-		replaceTargetsQueue: make(chan []Target),
+		addTargetQueue:      make(chan Target, targetAddQueueSize),
+		replaceTargetsQueue: make(chan targets, targetReplaceQueueSize),
 	}
 }
 
-func (p TargetPool) Len() int {
-	return len(p.targets)
-}
-
-func (p TargetPool) Less(i, j int) bool {
-	return p.targets[i].scheduledFor().Before(p.targets[j].scheduledFor())
-}
-
-func (p TargetPool) Swap(i, j int) {
-	p.targets[i], p.targets[j] = p.targets[j], p.targets[i]
-}
-
 func (p *TargetPool) Run(results chan format.Result, interval time.Duration) {
-	ticker := time.Tick(interval)
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(interval)
+	defer ticker.Stop()
 
 	for {
 		select {
-		case <-ticker:
+		case <-ticker.C:
 			p.runIteration(results, interval)
 		case newTarget := <-p.addTargetQueue:
 			p.addTarget(newTarget)
@@ -65,7 +61,7 @@ func (p *TargetPool) Run(results chan format.Result, interval time.Duration) {
 			p.replaceTargets(newTargets)
 		case <-p.done:
 			log.Printf("TargetPool exiting...")
-			break
+			return
 		}
 	}
 }
@@ -79,14 +75,29 @@ func (p *TargetPool) AddTarget(target Target) {
 }
 
 func (p *TargetPool) addTarget(target Target) {
+	p.Lock()
+	defer p.Unlock()
+
 	p.targets = append(p.targets, target)
 }
 
 func (p *TargetPool) ReplaceTargets(newTargets []Target) {
-	p.replaceTargetsQueue <- newTargets
+	p.Lock()
+	defer p.Unlock()
+
+	// If there is anything remaining in the queue for effectuation, clear it out,
+	// because the last mutation should win.
+	select {
+	case <-p.replaceTargetsQueue:
+	default:
+		p.replaceTargetsQueue <- newTargets
+	}
 }
 
 func (p *TargetPool) replaceTargets(newTargets []Target) {
+	p.Lock()
+	defer p.Unlock()
+
 	// Replace old target list by new one, but reuse those targets from the old
 	// list of targets which are also in the new list (to preserve scheduling and
 	// health state).
@@ -98,6 +109,7 @@ func (p *TargetPool) replaceTargets(newTargets []Target) {
 			}
 		}
 	}
+
 	p.targets = newTargets
 }
 
@@ -109,14 +121,15 @@ func (p *TargetPool) runSingle(earliest time.Time, results chan format.Result, t
 }
 
 func (p *TargetPool) runIteration(results chan format.Result, interval time.Duration) {
-	begin := time.Now()
+	p.RLock()
+	defer p.RUnlock()
 
-	targetCount := p.Len()
-	finished := make(chan bool, targetCount)
+	begin := time.Now()
+	wait := sync.WaitGroup{}
 
 	// Sort p.targets by next scheduling time so we can process the earliest
 	// targets first.
-	sort.Sort(p)
+	sort.Sort(p.targets)
 
 	for _, target := range p.targets {
 		now := time.Now()
@@ -124,34 +137,29 @@ func (p *TargetPool) runIteration(results chan format.Result, interval time.Dura
 		if target.scheduledFor().After(now) {
 			// None of the remaining targets are ready to be scheduled. Signal that
 			// we're done processing them in this scrape iteration.
-			finished <- true
 			continue
 		}
 
+		wait.Add(1)
+
 		go func(t Target) {
 			p.runSingle(now, results, t)
-			finished <- true
+			wait.Done()
 		}(target)
 	}
 
-	for i := 0; i < targetCount; {
-		select {
-		case <-finished:
-			i++
-		case newTarget := <-p.addTargetQueue:
-			p.addTarget(newTarget)
-		case newTargets := <-p.replaceTargetsQueue:
-			p.replaceTargets(newTargets)
-		}
-	}
-
-	close(finished)
+	wait.Wait()
 
 	duration := float64(time.Since(begin) / time.Millisecond)
 	retrievalDurations.Add(map[string]string{intervalKey: interval.String()}, duration)
 }
 
-// BUG(all): Not really thread-safe. Only used in /status page for now.
 func (p *TargetPool) Targets() []Target {
-	return p.targets
+	p.RLock()
+	defer p.RUnlock()
+
+	targets := make([]Target, len(p.targets))
+	copy(targets, p.targets)
+
+	return targets
 }
diff --git a/retrieval/targetpool_test.go b/retrieval/targetpool_test.go
index 871421799..dbfb1ef45 100644
--- a/retrieval/targetpool_test.go
+++ b/retrieval/targetpool_test.go
@@ -14,11 +14,12 @@
 package retrieval
 
 import (
-	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/retrieval/format"
-	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/utility/test"
 	"sort"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
+
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/retrieval/format"
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/utility/test"
 )
 
 func testTargetPool(t test.Tester) {
@@ -113,10 +114,10 @@ func testTargetPool(t test.Tester) {
 
 			pool.addTarget(&target)
 		}
-		sort.Sort(pool)
+		sort.Sort(pool.targets)
 
-		if pool.Len() != len(scenario.outputs) {
-			t.Errorf("%s %d. expected TargetPool size to be %d but was %d", scenario.name, i, len(scenario.outputs), pool.Len())
+		if pool.targets.Len() != len(scenario.outputs) {
+			t.Errorf("%s %d. expected TargetPool size to be %d but was %d", scenario.name, i, len(scenario.outputs), pool.targets.Len())
 		} else {
 			for j, output := range scenario.outputs {
 				target := pool.targets[j]
@@ -127,8 +128,8 @@ func testTargetPool(t test.Tester) {
 				}
 			}
 
-			if pool.Len() != len(scenario.outputs) {
-				t.Errorf("%s %d. expected to repopulated with %d elements, got %d", scenario.name, i, len(scenario.outputs), pool.Len())
+			if pool.targets.Len() != len(scenario.outputs) {
+				t.Errorf("%s %d. expected to repopulated with %d elements, got %d", scenario.name, i, len(scenario.outputs), pool.targets.Len())
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -187,10 +188,10 @@ func TestTargetPoolReplaceTargets(t *testing.T) {
 	pool.addTarget(oldTarget2)
 
 	pool.replaceTargets([]Target{newTarget1, newTarget2})
-	sort.Sort(pool)
+	sort.Sort(pool.targets)
 
-	if pool.Len() != 2 {
-		t.Errorf("Expected 2 elements in pool, had %d", pool.Len())
+	if pool.targets.Len() != 2 {
+		t.Errorf("Expected 2 elements in pool, had %d", pool.targets.Len())
 	}
 
 	target1 := pool.targets[0].(*target)