diff --git a/include/villas/shmem.h b/include/villas/shmem.h
index 141e9c103..413ac661c 100644
--- a/include/villas/shmem.h
+++ b/include/villas/shmem.h
@@ -41,25 +41,19 @@ extern "C" {
 #define DEFAULT_SHMEM_QUEUELEN	512
 #define DEFAULT_SHMEM_SAMPLELEN	64
 
-/** A signalled queue or a regular (polling) queue, depending on the polling setting. */
-union shmem_queue {
-	struct queue q;
-	struct queue_signalled qs;
-};
-
 /** Struct containing all parameters that need to be known when creating a new
  * shared memory object. */
 struct shmem_conf {
 	int polling;			/**< Whether to use polling instead of POSIX CVs */
 	int queuelen;			/**< Size of the queues (in elements) */
-	int samplelen; 			/**< Maximum number of data entries in a single sample */
+	int samplelen;			/**< Maximum number of data entries in a single sample */
 };
 
 /** The structure that actually resides in the shared memory. */
 struct shmem_shared {
 	int polling;			/**< Whether to use a pthread_cond_t to signal if new samples are written to incoming queue. */
-	union shmem_queue queue;	/**< Queues for samples passed in both directions. */
-	struct pool pool;        	/**< Pool for the samples in the queues. */
+	struct queue_signalled queue;	/**< Queue for samples passed in both directions. */
+	struct pool pool;		/**< Pool for the samples in the queues. */
 };
 
 /** Relevant information for one direction of the interface. */
diff --git a/lib/shmem.c b/lib/shmem.c
index f0675d2d7..74b93bc68 100644
--- a/lib/shmem.c
+++ b/lib/shmem.c
@@ -93,9 +93,14 @@ int shmem_int_open(const char *wname, const char* rname, struct shmem_int *shm,
 
 	memset(shared, 0, sizeof(struct shmem_shared));
 	shared->polling = conf->polling;
+	
+	int flags = QUEUE_SIGNALLED_PROCESS_SHARED;
+	if (conf->polling)
+		flags |= QUEUE_SIGNALLED_POLLING;
+	else
+		flags |= QUEUE_SIGNALLED_PTHREAD;
 
-	ret = shared->polling ? queue_init(&shared->queue.q, conf->queuelen, manager)
-			      : queue_signalled_init(&shared->queue.qs, conf->queuelen, manager);
+	ret = queue_signalled_init(&shared->queue, conf->queuelen, manager, flags);
 	if (ret) {
 		errno = ENOMEM;
 		return -1;
@@ -151,10 +156,8 @@ int shmem_int_open(const char *wname, const char* rname, struct shmem_int *shm,
 int shmem_int_close(struct shmem_int *shm)
 {
 	atomic_store(&shm->closed, 1);
-	if (shm->write.shared->polling)
-		queue_close(&shm->write.shared->queue.q);
-	else
-		queue_signalled_close(&shm->write.shared->queue.qs);
+	
+	queue_signalled_close(&shm->write.shared->queue);
 
 	shm_unlink(shm->write.name);
 	if (atomic_load(&shm->readers) == 0)
@@ -171,10 +174,7 @@ int shmem_int_read(struct shmem_int *shm, struct sample *smps[], unsigned cnt)
 
 	atomic_fetch_add(&shm->readers, 1);
 
-	if (shm->read.shared->polling)
-		ret = queue_pull_many(&shm->read.shared->queue.q, (void **) smps, cnt);
-	else
-		ret = queue_signalled_pull_many(&shm->read.shared->queue.qs, (void **) smps, cnt);
+	ret = queue_signalled_pull_many(&shm->read.shared->queue, (void **) smps, cnt);
 
 	if (atomic_fetch_sub(&shm->readers, 1) == 1 && atomic_load(&shm->closed) == 1)
 		munmap(shm->read.base, shm->read.len);
@@ -188,10 +188,7 @@ int shmem_int_write(struct shmem_int *shm, struct sample *smps[], unsigned cnt)
 
 	atomic_fetch_add(&shm->writers, 1);
 
-	if (shm->write.shared->polling)
-		ret = queue_push_many(&shm->write.shared->queue.q, (void **) smps, cnt);
-	else
-		ret = queue_signalled_push_many(&shm->write.shared->queue.qs, (void **) smps, cnt);
+	ret = queue_signalled_push_many(&shm->write.shared->queue, (void **) smps, cnt);
 
 	if (atomic_fetch_sub(&shm->writers, 1) == 1 && atomic_load(&shm->closed) == 1)
 		munmap(shm->write.base, shm->write.len);