diff --git a/lib/distributed_mutex.rb b/lib/distributed_mutex.rb
index 5d85451c949..36d07e9f0e3 100644
--- a/lib/distributed_mutex.rb
+++ b/lib/distributed_mutex.rb
@@ -1,51 +1,48 @@
 # Cross-process locking using Redis.
 class DistributedMutex
-  attr_accessor :redis
-  attr_reader :got_lock
 
   def initialize(key, redis=nil)
     @key = key
     @redis = redis || $redis
-    @got_lock = false
+    @mutex = Mutex.new
   end
 
+  # NOTE wrapped in mutex to maintain its semantics
+  def synchronize
+    @mutex.lock
+    while !try_to_get_lock
+      sleep 0.001
+    end
+
+    yield
+
+  ensure
+    @redis.del @key
+    @mutex.unlock
+  end
+
+  private
+
   def try_to_get_lock
-    if redis.setnx @key, Time.now.to_i + 60
-      redis.expire @key, 60
-      @got_lock = true
+    got_lock = false
+    if @redis.setnx @key, Time.now.to_i + 60
+      @redis.expire @key, 60
+      got_lock = true
     else
       begin
-        redis.watch @key
-        time = redis.get @key
+        @redis.watch @key
+        time = @redis.get @key
         if time && time.to_i < Time.now.to_i
-          @got_lock = redis.multi do
-            redis.set @key, Time.now.to_i + 60
+          got_lock = @redis.multi do
+            @redis.set @key, Time.now.to_i + 60
           end
         end
       ensure
-        redis.unwatch
+        @redis.unwatch
       end
     end
+
+    got_lock
   end
 
-  def get_lock
-    return if @got_lock
-
-    start = Time.now
-    while !@got_lock
-      try_to_get_lock
-    end
-  end
-
-  def release_lock
-    redis.del @key
-    @got_lock = false
-  end
-
-  def synchronize
-    get_lock
-    yield
-  ensure
-    release_lock
-  end
 end
diff --git a/spec/components/distributed_mutex_spec.rb b/spec/components/distributed_mutex_spec.rb
index 70a00ba8ade..37cbb4e1f98 100644
--- a/spec/components/distributed_mutex_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/distributed_mutex_spec.rb
@@ -3,34 +3,47 @@ require_dependency 'distributed_mutex'
 
 describe DistributedMutex do
   it "allows only one mutex object to have the lock at a time" do
-    m1 = DistributedMutex.new("test_mutex_key")
-    m2 = DistributedMutex.new("test_mutex_key")
-
-    m1.get_lock
-    m2.got_lock.should be_false
-
-    t = Thread.new do
-      m2.get_lock
+    mutexes = (1..10).map do
+      DistributedMutex.new("test_mutex_key")
     end
 
-    m1.release_lock
-    t.join
-    m2.got_lock.should == true
-  end
-
-  it "synchronizes correctly" do
-    array = []
-    t = Thread.new do
-      DistributedMutex.new("correct_sync").synchronize do
-        sleep 0.01
-        array.push 1
+    x = 0
+    mutexes.map do |m|
+      Thread.new do
+        m.synchronize do
+          y = x
+          sleep 0.001
+          x = y + 1
+        end
       end
-    end
-    sleep 0.005
-    DistributedMutex.new("correct_sync").synchronize do
-      array.push 2
-    end
-    t.join
-    array.should == [1, 2]
+    end.map(&:join)
+
+    x.should == 10
   end
+
+  it "handles auto cleanup correctly" do
+    m = DistributedMutex.new("test_mutex_key")
+
+    $redis.setnx "test_mutex_key", Time.now.to_i - 1
+
+
+    start = Time.now.to_i
+    m.synchronize do
+      "nop"
+    end
+
+    # no longer than a second
+    Time.now.to_i.should <= start + 1
+  end
+
+  it "maintains mutex semantics" do
+    m = DistributedMutex.new("test_mutex_key")
+
+    lambda {
+      m.synchronize do
+        m.synchronize{}
+      end
+    }.should raise_error(ThreadError)
+  end
+
 end