A two-piece pallet fastener for securing a pallet element to a base pallet is disclosed. The fastener includes a sleeve having internal, male protrusions and a rivet having external, female threads. The sleeve is installed in a pallet base and the rivet is inserted through the part to be attached to the pallet base and into the sleeve. The sleeve includes a rivet-receiving end having an alignment feature and an anchoring end. The anchoring end includes flexible legs having external shoulders. The rivet includes a head and a shaft. The head includes an alignment feature. The shaft includes external, female threads and two or more axially-aligned longitudinal grooves. One or more detents are formed on the rivet for engagement with the interior surface of the sleeve. The detents are provided to produce a ratchet-type effect to assure that the rivet is locked into the sleeve.