diff --git a/cmake/OpenCVDetectCXXCompiler.cmake b/cmake/OpenCVDetectCXXCompiler.cmake
index c27fb4f549..f9fc1189ce 100644
--- a/cmake/OpenCVDetectCXXCompiler.cmake
+++ b/cmake/OpenCVDetectCXXCompiler.cmake
@@ -212,7 +212,13 @@ if(NOT HAVE_CXX11)
   endif()
 endif()
 
-if((HAVE_CXX11
+set(__OPENCV_ENABLE_ATOMIC_LONG_LONG OFF)
+if(HAVE_CXX11 AND (X86 OR X86_64))
+  set(__OPENCV_ENABLE_ATOMIC_LONG_LONG ON)
+endif()
+option(OPENCV_ENABLE_ATOMIC_LONG_LONG "Enable C++ compiler support for atomic<long long>" ${__OPENCV_ENABLE_ATOMIC_LONG_LONG})
+
+if((HAVE_CXX11 AND OPENCV_ENABLE_ATOMIC_LONG_LONG
         AND NOT MSVC
         AND NOT (X86 OR X86_64)
     AND NOT OPENCV_SKIP_LIBATOMIC_COMPILER_CHECK)
@@ -223,9 +229,14 @@ if((HAVE_CXX11
     list(APPEND CMAKE_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES atomic)
     ocv_check_compiler_flag(CXX "" HAVE_CXX_ATOMICS_WITH_LIB "${OpenCV_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/checks/atomic_check.cpp")
     if(HAVE_CXX_ATOMICS_WITH_LIB)
+      set(HAVE_ATOMIC_LONG_LONG ON)
       list(APPEND OPENCV_LINKER_LIBS atomic)
     else()
-      message(FATAL_ERROR "C++11 compiler must support std::atomic")
+      message(STATUS "Compiler doesn't support std::atomic<long long>")
     endif()
+  else()
+    set(HAVE_ATOMIC_LONG_LONG ON)
   endif()
+else(HAVE_CXX11 AND OPENCV_ENABLE_ATOMIC_LONG_LONG)
+  set(HAVE_ATOMIC_LONG_LONG ${OPENCV_ENABLE_ATOMIC_LONG_LONG})
 endif()
diff --git a/modules/core/CMakeLists.txt b/modules/core/CMakeLists.txt
index 2e0fac6172..4cb61a1d82 100644
--- a/modules/core/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/modules/core/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -78,6 +78,23 @@ if(HAVE_MEMALIGN)
   ocv_append_source_file_compile_definitions(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/alloc.cpp "HAVE_MEMALIGN=1")
 endif()
 
+option(OPENCV_ENABLE_ALLOCATOR_STATS "Enable Allocator metrics" ON)
+
+if(NOT OPENCV_ENABLE_ALLOCATOR_STATS)
+  add_definitions(-DOPENCV_DISABLE_ALLOCATOR_STATS=1)
+else()
+  if(NOT DEFINED OPENCV_ALLOCATOR_STATS_COUNTER_TYPE)
+    if(HAVE_ATOMIC_LONG_LONG AND OPENCV_ENABLE_ATOMIC_LONG_LONG)
+      set(OPENCV_ALLOCATOR_STATS_COUNTER_TYPE "long long")
+    else()
+      set(OPENCV_ALLOCATOR_STATS_COUNTER_TYPE "int")
+    endif()
+  endif()
+  message(STATUS "Allocator metrics storage type: '${OPENCV_ALLOCATOR_STATS_COUNTER_TYPE}'")
+  add_definitions("-DOPENCV_ALLOCATOR_STATS_COUNTER_TYPE=${OPENCV_ALLOCATOR_STATS_COUNTER_TYPE}")
+endif()
+
+
 ocv_create_module(${extra_libs})
 
 ocv_target_link_libraries(${the_module} PRIVATE
diff --git a/modules/core/include/opencv2/core/utils/allocator_stats.impl.hpp b/modules/core/include/opencv2/core/utils/allocator_stats.impl.hpp
index b77493d010..61fcf15977 100644
--- a/modules/core/include/opencv2/core/utils/allocator_stats.impl.hpp
+++ b/modules/core/include/opencv2/core/utils/allocator_stats.impl.hpp
@@ -11,32 +11,55 @@
 #include <atomic>
 #endif
 
+//#define OPENCV_DISABLE_ALLOCATOR_STATS
+
 namespace cv { namespace utils {
 
+#ifndef OPENCV_ALLOCATOR_STATS_COUNTER_TYPE
+#if defined(__GNUC__) && (\
+        (defined(__SIZEOF_POINTER__) && __SIZEOF_POINTER__ == 4) || \
+        (defined(__GCC_HAVE_SYNC_COMPARE_AND_SWAP_4) && !defined(__GCC_HAVE_SYNC_COMPARE_AND_SWAP_8)) \
+    )
+#define OPENCV_ALLOCATOR_STATS_COUNTER_TYPE int
+#endif
+#endif
+
+#ifndef OPENCV_ALLOCATOR_STATS_COUNTER_TYPE
+#define OPENCV_ALLOCATOR_STATS_COUNTER_TYPE long long
+#endif
+
 #ifdef CV__ALLOCATOR_STATS_LOG
 namespace {
 #endif
 
 class AllocatorStatistics : public AllocatorStatisticsInterface
 {
-protected:
-#ifdef CV_CXX11
-    std::atomic<long long> curr, total, total_allocs, peak;
-#else
-    volatile long long curr, total, total_allocs, peak;  // overflow is possible, CV_XADD operates with 'int' only
-#endif
+#ifdef OPENCV_DISABLE_ALLOCATOR_STATS
 
 public:
-    AllocatorStatistics()
-#ifndef CV_CXX11
-        : curr(0), total(0), total_allocs(0), peak(0)
-#endif
-    {}
+    AllocatorStatistics() {}
     ~AllocatorStatistics() CV_OVERRIDE {}
 
-    // AllocatorStatisticsInterface
+    uint64_t getCurrentUsage() const CV_OVERRIDE { return 0; }
+    uint64_t getTotalUsage() const CV_OVERRIDE { return 0; }
+    uint64_t getNumberOfAllocations() const CV_OVERRIDE { return 0; }
+    uint64_t getPeakUsage() const CV_OVERRIDE { return 0; }
+
+    /** set peak usage = current usage */
+    void resetPeakUsage() CV_OVERRIDE {};
+
+    void onAllocate(size_t /*sz*/) {}
+    void onFree(size_t /*sz*/) {}
+
+#elif defined(CV_CXX11)
+
+protected:
+    typedef OPENCV_ALLOCATOR_STATS_COUNTER_TYPE counter_t;
+    std::atomic<counter_t> curr, total, total_allocs, peak;
+public:
+    AllocatorStatistics() {}
+    ~AllocatorStatistics() CV_OVERRIDE {}
 
-#ifdef CV_CXX11
     uint64_t getCurrentUsage() const CV_OVERRIDE { return (uint64_t)curr.load(); }
     uint64_t getTotalUsage() const CV_OVERRIDE { return (uint64_t)total.load(); }
     uint64_t getNumberOfAllocations() const CV_OVERRIDE { return (uint64_t)total_allocs.load(); }
@@ -52,7 +75,7 @@ public:
         CV__ALLOCATOR_STATS_LOG(cv::format("allocate: %lld (curr=%lld)", (long long int)sz, (long long int)curr.load()));
 #endif
 
-        long long new_curr = curr.fetch_add((long long)sz) + (long long)sz;
+        counter_t new_curr = curr.fetch_add((counter_t)sz) + (counter_t)sz;
 
         // peak = std::max((uint64_t)peak, new_curr);
         auto prev_peak = peak.load();
@@ -63,7 +86,7 @@ public:
         }
         // end of peak = max(...)
 
-        total += (long long)sz;
+        total += (counter_t)sz;
         total_allocs++;
     }
     void onFree(size_t sz)
@@ -71,10 +94,20 @@ public:
 #ifdef CV__ALLOCATOR_STATS_LOG
         CV__ALLOCATOR_STATS_LOG(cv::format("free: %lld (curr=%lld)", (long long int)sz, (long long int)curr.load()));
 #endif
-        curr -= (long long)sz;
+        curr -= (counter_t)sz;
     }
 
-#else
+#else  // non C++11
+
+protected:
+    typedef OPENCV_ALLOCATOR_STATS_COUNTER_TYPE counter_t;
+    volatile counter_t curr, total, total_allocs, peak;  // overflow is possible, CV_XADD operates with 'int' only
+public:
+    AllocatorStatistics()
+        : curr(0), total(0), total_allocs(0), peak(0)
+    {}
+    ~AllocatorStatistics() CV_OVERRIDE {}
+
     uint64_t getCurrentUsage() const CV_OVERRIDE { return (uint64_t)curr; }
     uint64_t getTotalUsage() const CV_OVERRIDE { return (uint64_t)total; }
     uint64_t getNumberOfAllocations() const CV_OVERRIDE { return (uint64_t)total_allocs; }
@@ -89,21 +122,21 @@ public:
         CV__ALLOCATOR_STATS_LOG(cv::format("allocate: %lld (curr=%lld)", (long long int)sz, (long long int)curr));
 #endif
 
-        uint64_t new_curr = (uint64_t)CV_XADD(&curr, (uint64_t)sz) + sz;
+        counter_t new_curr = (counter_t)CV_XADD(&curr, (counter_t)sz) + (counter_t)sz;
 
-        peak = std::max((uint64_t)peak, new_curr);  // non-thread safe
+        peak = std::max((counter_t)peak, new_curr);  // non-thread safe
 
         //CV_XADD(&total, (uint64_t)sz);  // overflow with int, non-reliable...
         total += sz;
 
-        CV_XADD(&total_allocs, (uint64_t)1);
+        CV_XADD(&total_allocs, (counter_t)1);
     }
     void onFree(size_t sz)
     {
 #ifdef CV__ALLOCATOR_STATS_LOG
         CV__ALLOCATOR_STATS_LOG(cv::format("free: %lld (curr=%lld)", (long long int)sz, (long long int)curr));
 #endif
-        CV_XADD(&curr, (uint64_t)-sz);
+        CV_XADD(&curr, (counter_t)-sz);
     }
 #endif
 };