diff --git a/lib/isc/stats.c b/lib/isc/stats.c
index d08986169d..a8d8992c72 100644
--- a/lib/isc/stats.c
+++ b/lib/isc/stats.c
@@ -108,17 +108,14 @@ isc_stats_increment(isc_stats_t *stats, isc_statscounter_t counter) {
 	REQUIRE(ISC_STATS_VALID(stats));
 	REQUIRE(counter < stats->ncounters);
 
-	atomic_fetch_add_explicit(&stats->counters[counter], 1,
-				  memory_order_relaxed);
+	atomic_fetch_add_relaxed(&stats->counters[counter], 1);
 }
 
 void
 isc_stats_decrement(isc_stats_t *stats, isc_statscounter_t counter) {
 	REQUIRE(ISC_STATS_VALID(stats));
 	REQUIRE(counter < stats->ncounters);
-
-	atomic_fetch_sub_explicit(&stats->counters[counter], 1,
-				  memory_order_relaxed);
+	atomic_fetch_sub_release(&stats->counters[counter], 1);
 }
 
 void
@@ -129,8 +126,7 @@ isc_stats_dump(isc_stats_t *stats, isc_stats_dumper_t dump_fn, void *arg,
 	REQUIRE(ISC_STATS_VALID(stats));
 
 	for (i = 0; i < stats->ncounters; i++) {
-		uint32_t counter = atomic_load_explicit(&stats->counters[i],
-							memory_order_relaxed);
+		uint32_t counter = atomic_load_acquire(&stats->counters[i]);
 		if ((options & ISC_STATSDUMP_VERBOSE) == 0 && counter == 0) {
 			continue;
 		}
@@ -143,8 +139,7 @@ isc_stats_set(isc_stats_t *stats, uint64_t val, isc_statscounter_t counter) {
 	REQUIRE(ISC_STATS_VALID(stats));
 	REQUIRE(counter < stats->ncounters);
 
-	atomic_store_explicit(&stats->counters[counter], val,
-			      memory_order_relaxed);
+	atomic_store_release(&stats->counters[counter], val);
 }
 
 void
@@ -154,13 +149,13 @@ isc_stats_update_if_greater(isc_stats_t *stats, isc_statscounter_t counter,
 	REQUIRE(counter < stats->ncounters);
 
 	isc_statscounter_t curr_value =
-		atomic_load_relaxed(&stats->counters[counter]);
+		atomic_load_acquire(&stats->counters[counter]);
 	do {
 		if (curr_value >= value) {
 			break;
 		}
-	} while (!atomic_compare_exchange_strong(&stats->counters[counter],
-						 &curr_value, value));
+	} while (!atomic_compare_exchange_weak_acq_rel(
+		&stats->counters[counter], &curr_value, value));
 }
 
 isc_statscounter_t
@@ -168,6 +163,5 @@ isc_stats_get_counter(isc_stats_t *stats, isc_statscounter_t counter) {
 	REQUIRE(ISC_STATS_VALID(stats));
 	REQUIRE(counter < stats->ncounters);
 
-	return (atomic_load_explicit(&stats->counters[counter],
-				     memory_order_relaxed));
+	return (atomic_load_acquire(&stats->counters[counter]));
 }