diff --git a/crates/bevy_utils/Cargo.toml b/crates/bevy_utils/Cargo.toml
index 01751764b4e00..2719b4372f90b 100644
--- a/crates/bevy_utils/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/bevy_utils/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,12 +10,39 @@ keywords = ["bevy"]
 
 [features]
 default = ["std", "serde", "tracing"]
-std = ["alloc", "tracing?/std", "foldhash/std", "dep:thread_local"]
-alloc = ["hashbrown"]
-detailed_trace = []
+
+# Functionality
+
+## Adds serialization support through `serde`.
 serde = ["hashbrown/serde"]
+
+# Debugging Features
+
+## Enables `tracing` integration, allowing spans and other metrics to be reported
+## through that framework.
 tracing = ["dep:tracing"]
 
+## Enables more detailed reporting via `tracing`.
+detailed_trace = ["tracing"]
+
+# Platform Compatibility
+
+## Allows access to the `std` crate. Enabling this feature will prevent compilation
+## on `no_std` targets, but provides access to certain additional features on
+## supported platforms.
+std = ["alloc", "tracing?/std", "foldhash/std", "dep:thread_local"]
+
+## Allows access to the `alloc` crate.
+alloc = ["hashbrown"]
+
+## `critical-section` provides the building blocks for synchronization primitives
+## on all platforms, including `no_std`.
+critical-section = ["portable-atomic?/critical-section"]
+
+## `portable-atomic` provides additional platform support for atomic types and
+## operations, even on targets without native support. 
+portable-atomic = ["dep:portable-atomic"]
+
 [dependencies]
 foldhash = { version = "0.1.3", default-features = false }
 tracing = { version = "0.1", default-features = false, optional = true }
@@ -24,6 +51,9 @@ hashbrown = { version = "0.15.1", features = [
   "raw-entry",
 ], optional = true, default-features = false }
 thread_local = { version = "1.0", optional = true }
+portable-atomic = { version = "1", default-features = false, features = [
+  "fallback",
+], optional = true }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 static_assertions = "1.1.0"
diff --git a/crates/bevy_utils/src/lib.rs b/crates/bevy_utils/src/lib.rs
index 7b660ed70e6e3..fea65f11ed686 100644
--- a/crates/bevy_utils/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/bevy_utils/src/lib.rs
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ mod once;
 mod parallel_queue;
 mod time;
 
+#[doc(hidden)]
+pub use once::OnceFlag;
+
 /// For when you want a deterministic hasher.
 ///
 /// Seed was randomly generated with a fair dice roll. Guaranteed to be random:
diff --git a/crates/bevy_utils/src/once.rs b/crates/bevy_utils/src/once.rs
index 68aeb745559da..23ca669257790 100644
--- a/crates/bevy_utils/src/once.rs
+++ b/crates/bevy_utils/src/once.rs
@@ -1,11 +1,38 @@
+#[cfg(feature = "portable-atomic")]
+use portable_atomic::{AtomicBool, Ordering};
+
+#[cfg(not(feature = "portable-atomic"))]
+use core::sync::atomic::{AtomicBool, Ordering};
+
+/// Wrapper around an [`AtomicBool`], abstracting the backing implementation and
+/// ordering considerations.
+#[doc(hidden)]
+pub struct OnceFlag(AtomicBool);
+
+impl OnceFlag {
+    /// Create a new flag in the unset state.
+    pub const fn new() -> Self {
+        Self(AtomicBool::new(true))
+    }
+
+    /// Sets this flag. Will return `true` if this flag hasn't been set before.
+    pub fn set(&self) -> bool {
+        self.0.swap(false, Ordering::Relaxed)
+    }
+}
+
+impl Default for OnceFlag {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        Self::new()
+    }
+}
+
 /// Call some expression only once per call site.
 #[macro_export]
 macro_rules! once {
     ($expression:expr) => {{
-        use ::core::sync::atomic::{AtomicBool, Ordering};
-
-        static SHOULD_FIRE: AtomicBool = AtomicBool::new(true);
-        if SHOULD_FIRE.swap(false, Ordering::Relaxed) {
+        static SHOULD_FIRE: $crate::OnceFlag = $crate::OnceFlag::new();
+        if SHOULD_FIRE.set() {
             $expression;
         }
     }};