diff --git a/oslo_concurrency/lockutils.py b/oslo_concurrency/lockutils.py
index ea67571..4519463 100644
--- a/oslo_concurrency/lockutils.py
+++ b/oslo_concurrency/lockutils.py
@@ -87,6 +87,43 @@ ReaderWriterLock = fasteners.ReaderWriterLock
 """
 
 
+class FairLocks(object):
+    """A garbage collected container of fair locks.
+
+    This collection internally uses a weak value dictionary so that when a
+    lock is no longer in use (by any threads) it will automatically be
+    removed from this container by the garbage collector.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        self._locks = weakref.WeakValueDictionary()
+        self._lock = threading.Lock()
+
+    def get(self, name):
+        """Gets (or creates) a lock with a given name.
+
+        :param name: The lock name to get/create (used to associate
+                     previously created names with the same lock).
+
+        Returns an newly constructed lock (or an existing one if it was
+        already created for the given name).
+        """
+        with self._lock:
+            try:
+                return self._locks[name]
+            except KeyError:
+                rwlock = ReaderWriterLock()
+                self._locks[name] = rwlock
+                return rwlock
+
+
+fair_locks = FairLocks()
+
+
+def internal_fair_lock(name):
+    return fair_locks.get(name)
+
+
 class Semaphores(object):
     """A garbage collected container of semaphores.
 
@@ -170,7 +207,7 @@ def internal_lock(name, semaphores=None):
 
 @contextlib.contextmanager
 def lock(name, lock_file_prefix=None, external=False, lock_path=None,
-         do_log=True, semaphores=None, delay=0.01):
+         do_log=True, semaphores=None, delay=0.01, fair=False):
     """Context based lock
 
     This function yields a `threading.Semaphore` instance (if we don't use
@@ -200,16 +237,22 @@ def lock(name, lock_file_prefix=None, external=False, lock_path=None,
 
     :param delay: Delay between acquisition attempts (in seconds).
 
+    :param fair: Whether or not we want a "fair" lock where contending lockers
+        will get the lock in the order in which they tried to acquire it.
+
     .. versionchanged:: 0.2
        Added *do_log* optional parameter.
 
     .. versionchanged:: 0.3
        Added *delay* and *semaphores* optional parameters.
     """
-    int_lock = internal_lock(name, semaphores=semaphores)
+    if fair:
+        int_lock = internal_fair_lock(name).write_lock()
+    else:
+        int_lock = internal_lock(name, semaphores=semaphores)
     with int_lock:
         if do_log:
-            LOG.debug('Acquired semaphore "%(lock)s"', {'lock': name})
+            LOG.debug('Acquired lock "%(lock)s"', {'lock': name})
         try:
             if external and not CONF.oslo_concurrency.disable_process_locking:
                 ext_lock = external_lock(name, lock_file_prefix, lock_path)
@@ -222,11 +265,11 @@ def lock(name, lock_file_prefix=None, external=False, lock_path=None,
                 yield int_lock
         finally:
             if do_log:
-                LOG.debug('Releasing semaphore "%(lock)s"', {'lock': name})
+                LOG.debug('Releasing lock "%(lock)s"', {'lock': name})
 
 
 def synchronized(name, lock_file_prefix=None, external=False, lock_path=None,
-                 semaphores=None, delay=0.01):
+                 semaphores=None, delay=0.01, fair=False):
     """Synchronization decorator.
 
     Decorating a method like so::
@@ -261,7 +304,8 @@ def synchronized(name, lock_file_prefix=None, external=False, lock_path=None,
             t2 = None
             try:
                 with lock(name, lock_file_prefix, external, lock_path,
-                          do_log=False, semaphores=semaphores, delay=delay):
+                          do_log=False, semaphores=semaphores, delay=delay,
+                          fair=fair):
                     t2 = timeutils.now()
                     LOG.debug('Lock "%(name)s" acquired by "%(function)s" :: '
                               'waited %(wait_secs)0.3fs',