diff --git a/src/scr.c b/src/scr.c
index 7152421e..4654c551 100644
--- a/src/scr.c
+++ b/src/scr.c
@@ -2120,7 +2120,7 @@ int SCR_Init()
   if (scr_my_rank_world == 0) {
     kvtree* nodes_hash = kvtree_new();
     kvtree_util_set_int(nodes_hash, SCR_NODES_KEY_NODES, num_nodes);
-    kvtree_write_path(scr_nodes_file, nodes_hash);
+    kvtree_write_path_locked(scr_nodes_file, nodes_hash);
     kvtree_delete(&nodes_hash);
   }
 
diff --git a/src/scr_flush_file.c b/src/scr_flush_file.c
index 4bcd7ed8..10d850ec 100644
--- a/src/scr_flush_file.c
+++ b/src/scr_flush_file.c
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[])
   kvtree* hash = kvtree_new();
 
   /* read in our flush file */
-  if (kvtree_read_file(file, hash) != KVTREE_SUCCESS) {
+  if (kvtree_read_with_lock(file, hash) != KVTREE_SUCCESS) {
     /* failed to read the flush file */
     goto cleanup;
   }
diff --git a/src/scr_flush_file_mpi.c b/src/scr_flush_file_mpi.c
index 122d17f0..da9c5229 100644
--- a/src/scr_flush_file_mpi.c
+++ b/src/scr_flush_file_mpi.c
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ int scr_flush_file_need_flush(int id)
   if (scr_my_rank_world == 0) {
     /* read the flush file */
     kvtree* hash = kvtree_new();
-    kvtree_read_path(scr_flush_file, hash);
+    kvtree_read_path_locked(scr_flush_file, hash);
 
     /* if we have the dataset in cache, but not on the parallel file system,
      * then it needs to be flushed */
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ int scr_flush_file_is_flushing(int id)
   if (scr_my_rank_world == 0) {
     /* read flush file into hash */
     kvtree* hash = kvtree_new();
-    kvtree_read_path(scr_flush_file, hash);
+    kvtree_read_path_locked(scr_flush_file, hash);
 
     /* attempt to look up the FLUSHING state for this checkpoint */
     kvtree* dset_hash = kvtree_get_kv_int(hash, SCR_FLUSH_KEY_DATASET, id);
@@ -86,13 +86,13 @@ int scr_flush_file_dataset_remove(int id)
   if (scr_my_rank_world == 0) {
     /* read the flush file into hash */
     kvtree* hash = kvtree_new();
-    kvtree_read_path(scr_flush_file, hash);
+    kvtree_read_path_locked(scr_flush_file, hash);
 
     /* delete this dataset id from the flush file */
     kvtree_unset_kv_int(hash, SCR_FLUSH_KEY_DATASET, id);
 
     /* write the hash back to the flush file */
-    kvtree_write_path(scr_flush_file, hash);
+    kvtree_write_path_locked(scr_flush_file, hash);
 
     /* delete the hash */
     kvtree_delete(&hash);
@@ -107,14 +107,14 @@ int scr_flush_file_location_set(int id, const char* location)
   if (scr_my_rank_world == 0) {
     /* read the flush file into hash */
     kvtree* hash = kvtree_new();
-    kvtree_read_path(scr_flush_file, hash);
+    kvtree_read_path_locked(scr_flush_file, hash);
 
     /* set the location for this dataset */
     kvtree* dset_hash = kvtree_set_kv_int(hash, SCR_FLUSH_KEY_DATASET, id);
     kvtree_set_kv(dset_hash, SCR_FLUSH_KEY_LOCATION, location);
 
     /* write the hash back to the flush file */
-    kvtree_write_path(scr_flush_file, hash);
+    kvtree_write_path_locked(scr_flush_file, hash);
 
     /* delete the hash */
     kvtree_delete(&hash);
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ int scr_flush_file_location_test(int id, const char* location)
   if (scr_my_rank_world == 0) {
     /* read the flush file into hash */
     kvtree* hash = kvtree_new();
-    kvtree_read_path(scr_flush_file, hash);
+    kvtree_read_path_locked(scr_flush_file, hash);
 
     /* check the location for this dataset */
     kvtree* dset_hash = kvtree_get_kv_int(hash, SCR_FLUSH_KEY_DATASET, id);
@@ -157,14 +157,14 @@ int scr_flush_file_location_unset(int id, const char* location)
   if (scr_my_rank_world == 0) {
     /* read the flush file into hash */
     kvtree* hash = kvtree_new();
-    kvtree_read_path(scr_flush_file, hash);
+    kvtree_read_path_locked(scr_flush_file, hash);
 
     /* unset the location for this dataset */
     kvtree* dset_hash = kvtree_get_kv_int(hash, SCR_FLUSH_KEY_DATASET, id);
     kvtree_unset_kv(dset_hash, SCR_FLUSH_KEY_LOCATION, location);
 
     /* write the hash back to the flush file */
-    kvtree_write_path(scr_flush_file, hash);
+    kvtree_write_path_locked(scr_flush_file, hash);
 
     /* delete the hash */
     kvtree_delete(&hash);
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ int scr_flush_file_new_entry(int id, const char* name, const scr_dataset* datase
   if (scr_my_rank_world == 0) {
     /* read the flush file into hash */
     kvtree* hash = kvtree_new();
-    kvtree_read_path(scr_flush_file, hash);
+    kvtree_read_path_locked(scr_flush_file, hash);
 
     /* set the name, location, and flags for this dataset */
     kvtree* dset_hash = kvtree_set_kv_int(hash, SCR_FLUSH_KEY_DATASET, id);
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ int scr_flush_file_new_entry(int id, const char* name, const scr_dataset* datase
     kvtree_set(dset_hash, SCR_FLUSH_KEY_DSETDESC, dataset_copy);
 
     /* write the hash back to the flush file */
-    kvtree_write_path(scr_flush_file, hash);
+    kvtree_write_path_locked(scr_flush_file, hash);
 
     /* delete the hash */
     kvtree_delete(&hash);
diff --git a/src/scr_halt.c b/src/scr_halt.c
index ff87e121..3de69c23 100644
--- a/src/scr_halt.c
+++ b/src/scr_halt.c
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ int scr_halt_sync_and_decrement(const spath* file_path, kvtree* hash, int dec_co
   }
 
   /* acquire a file lock before read/modify/write */
-  int ret = scr_file_lock_read(file, fd);
+  int ret = scr_file_lock_write(file, fd);
   if (ret != SCR_SUCCESS) {
     scr_close(file,fd);
     rc = ret;
diff --git a/src/scr_index.c b/src/scr_index.c
index c58f0282..7707f0ea 100644
--- a/src/scr_index.c
+++ b/src/scr_index.c
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ int scr_summary_read(const spath* dir, kvtree* hash)
   }
 
   /* now attempt to read the file contents into the hash */
-  if (kvtree_read_file(summary_file, hash) != KVTREE_SUCCESS) {
+  if (kvtree_read_with_lock(summary_file, hash) != KVTREE_SUCCESS) {
     rc = SCR_FAILURE;
     goto cleanup;
   }
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ static int kvtree_write_scatter_file(const spath* meta_path, const char* filenam
     kvtree_set_kv_int(entries, "RANKS", count);
 
     /* write hash to file rank2file part */
-    if (kvtree_write_path(rank2file_path, entries) != KVTREE_SUCCESS) {
+    if (kvtree_write_path_locked(rank2file_path, entries) != KVTREE_SUCCESS) {
       rc = SCR_FAILURE;
       elem = NULL;
     }
@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ static int kvtree_write_scatter_file(const spath* meta_path, const char* filenam
   /* write out rank2file map */
   spath* files_path = spath_dup(meta_path);
   spath_append_str(files_path, filename);
-  if (kvtree_write_path(files_path, files_hash) != KVTREE_SUCCESS) {
+  if (kvtree_write_path_locked(files_path, files_hash) != KVTREE_SUCCESS) {
     rc = SCR_FAILURE;
   }
   spath_delete(&files_path);
@@ -397,7 +397,7 @@ int scr_summary_write(const spath* prefix, const spath* dir, kvtree* hash)
   /* write summary file */
   spath* summary_path = spath_dup(meta_path);
   spath_append_str(summary_path, SCR_SUMMARY_FILENAME);
-  if (kvtree_write_path(summary_path, hash) != KVTREE_SUCCESS) {
+  if (kvtree_write_path_locked(summary_path, hash) != KVTREE_SUCCESS) {
     rc = SCR_FAILURE;
   }
   spath_delete(&summary_path);
@@ -953,7 +953,7 @@ int scr_scan_flush(const spath* path_prefix, int dset_id, kvtree* scan)
   spath_append_str(flush_path, "flush.scr");
   const char* flush_file = spath_strdup(flush_path);
 
-  if (kvtree_read_file(flush_file, flush) == KVTREE_SUCCESS) {
+  if (kvtree_read_with_lock(flush_file, flush) == KVTREE_SUCCESS) {
     /* copy dataset kvtree from flush file data */
     kvtree* dataset = kvtree_new();
     kvtree* hash = kvtree_get_kv_int(flush, SCR_FLUSH_KEY_DATASET, dset_id);
diff --git a/src/scr_index_api.c b/src/scr_index_api.c
index 992af991..7086d915 100644
--- a/src/scr_index_api.c
+++ b/src/scr_index_api.c
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ int scr_index_write(const spath* dir, kvtree* index)
   }
 
   /* write out the file */
-  int kvtree_rc = kvtree_write_path(path_index, index);
+  int kvtree_rc = kvtree_write_path_locked(path_index, index);
   int rc = (kvtree_rc == KVTREE_SUCCESS) ? SCR_SUCCESS : SCR_FAILURE;
 
   /* free path */
diff --git a/src/scr_nodes_file.c b/src/scr_nodes_file.c
index 1f281690..c6a8bb4c 100644
--- a/src/scr_nodes_file.c
+++ b/src/scr_nodes_file.c
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[])
   kvtree* hash = kvtree_new();
 
   /* read in our nodes file */
-  if (kvtree_read_file(file_str, hash) != KVTREE_SUCCESS) {
+  if (kvtree_read_with_lock(file_str, hash) != KVTREE_SUCCESS) {
     /* failed to read the nodes file */
     goto cleanup;
   }
diff --git a/src/scr_summary.c b/src/scr_summary.c
index ed56ff6c..6c58c58f 100644
--- a/src/scr_summary.c
+++ b/src/scr_summary.c
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ static int scr_summary_read_v5(const spath* dir, kvtree* summary_hash)
   }
 
   /* read in the summary hash file */
-  if (kvtree_read_path(summary_path, summary_hash) != KVTREE_SUCCESS) {
+  if (kvtree_read_path_locked(summary_path, summary_hash) != KVTREE_SUCCESS) {
     scr_err("Reading summary file %s @ %s:%d",
       summary_file, __FILE__, __LINE__
     );
@@ -484,7 +484,7 @@ int scr_summary_write(const spath* dir, const scr_dataset* dataset, int all_comp
   kvtree_util_set_int(rank2file_hash, SCR_SUMMARY_6_KEY_RANKS, scr_ranks_world);
 
   /* write the hash to a file */
-  kvtree_write_path(summary_path, summary_hash);
+  kvtree_write_path_locked(summary_path, summary_hash);
 
   /* free the hash object */
   kvtree_delete(&summary_hash);
diff --git a/src/scr_util.c b/src/scr_util.c
index 0f6f18b8..14a7a9ba 100644
--- a/src/scr_util.c
+++ b/src/scr_util.c
@@ -361,6 +361,22 @@ int kvtree_write_path(const spath* path, const kvtree* tree)
   return rc;
 }
 
+int kvtree_read_path_locked(const spath* path, kvtree* tree)
+{
+  char* file = spath_strdup(path);
+  int rc = kvtree_read_with_lock(file, tree);
+  scr_free(&file);
+  return rc;
+}
+
+int kvtree_write_path_locked(const spath* path, const kvtree* tree)
+{
+  char* file = spath_strdup(path);
+  int rc = kvtree_write_with_lock(file, tree);
+  scr_free(&file);
+  return rc;
+}
+
 /* given a string defining SCR_PREFIX value as given by user
  * return spath of fully qualified path, user should free */
 spath* scr_get_prefix(const char* str)
diff --git a/src/scr_util.h b/src/scr_util.h
index 51208fca..daee7001 100644
--- a/src/scr_util.h
+++ b/src/scr_util.h
@@ -78,6 +78,12 @@ int kvtree_read_path(const spath* path, kvtree* tree);
 /* convenience to write kvtree to an spath */
 int kvtree_write_path(const spath* path, const kvtree* tree);
 
+/* convenience to read kvtree from an spath with a file read lock */
+int kvtree_read_path_locked(const spath* path, kvtree* tree);
+
+/* convenience to write kvtree to an spath with a file write lock */
+int kvtree_write_path_locked(const spath* path, const kvtree* tree);
+
 /* given a string defining SCR_PREFIX value as given by user
  * return spath of fully qualified path, user should free */
 spath* scr_get_prefix(const char* prefix);