diff --git a/doc/source/user/index.rst b/doc/source/user/index.rst
index 1867faf..8f0d83e 100644
--- a/doc/source/user/index.rst
+++ b/doc/source/user/index.rst
@@ -47,6 +47,32 @@ sure that the names of the locks used are carefully chosen (typically by
 namespacing them to your app so that other apps will not chose the same
 names).
 
+Enabling fair locking
+=====================
+
+By default there is no requirement that the lock is ``fair``.  That is, it's
+possible for a thread to block waiting for the lock, then have another thread
+block waiting for the lock, and when the lock is released by the current owner
+the second waiter could acquire the lock before the first.  In an extreme case
+you could have a whole string of other threads acquire the lock before the
+first waiter acquires it, resulting in unpredictable amounts of latency.
+
+For cases where this is a problem, it's possible to specify the use of fair
+locks::
+
+    @lockutils.synchronized('not_thread_process_safe', fair=True)
+    def not_thread_process_safe():
+        pass
+
+When using fair locks the lock itself is slightly more expensive (which
+shouldn't matter in most cases), but it will ensure that all threads that
+block waiting for the lock will acquire it in the order that they blocked.
+
+The exception to this is when specifying both ``external`` and ``fair``
+locks.  In this case, the ordering *within* a given process will be fair, but
+the ordering *between* processes will be determined by the behaviour of the
+underlying OS.
+
 Common ways to prefix/namespace the synchronized decorator
 ==========================================================
 
diff --git a/oslo_concurrency/lockutils.py b/oslo_concurrency/lockutils.py
index e896a1a..edec8f9 100644
--- a/oslo_concurrency/lockutils.py
+++ b/oslo_concurrency/lockutils.py
@@ -87,6 +87,49 @@ ReaderWriterLock = fasteners.ReaderWriterLock
 """
 
 
+class FairLocks(object):
+    """A garbage collected container of fair locks.
+
+    With a fair lock, contending lockers will get the lock in the order in
+    which they tried to acquire it.
+
+    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:
+                # The fasteners module specifies that
+                # ReaderWriterLock.write_lock() will give FIFO behaviour,
+                # so we don't need to do anything special ourselves.
+                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 +213,7 @@ 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 +243,26 @@ 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:
+        if semaphores is not None:
+            raise NotImplementedError(_('Specifying semaphores is not '
+                                        'supported when using fair locks.'))
+        # The fastners module specifies that write_lock() provides fairness.
+        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)
@@ -225,11 +278,11 @@ 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::
@@ -264,7 +317,8 @@ 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',
diff --git a/oslo_concurrency/tests/unit/test_lockutils.py b/oslo_concurrency/tests/unit/test_lockutils.py
index 683d89f..a2ce7b7 100644
--- a/oslo_concurrency/tests/unit/test_lockutils.py
+++ b/oslo_concurrency/tests/unit/test_lockutils.py
@@ -147,6 +147,45 @@ class LockTestCase(test_base.BaseTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(saved_sem_num, len(lockutils._semaphores),
                          "Semaphore leak detected")
 
+    def test_lock_internal_fair(self):
+        """Check that we're actually fair."""
+
+        def f(_id):
+            with lockutils.lock('testlock', 'test-',
+                                external=False, fair=True):
+                lock_holder.append(_id)
+
+        lock_holder = []
+        threads = []
+        # While holding the fair lock, spawn a bunch of threads that all try
+        # to acquire the lock.  They will all block.  Then release the lock
+        # and see what happens.
+        with lockutils.lock('testlock', 'test-', external=False, fair=True):
+            for i in range(10):
+                thread = threading.Thread(target=f, args=(i,))
+                threads.append(thread)
+                thread.start()
+                # Allow some time for the new thread to get queued onto the
+                # list of pending writers before continuing.  This is gross
+                # but there's no way around it without using knowledge of
+                # fasteners internals.
+                time.sleep(0.5)
+        # Wait for all threads.
+        for thread in threads:
+            thread.join()
+
+        self.assertEqual(10, len(lock_holder))
+        # Check that the threads each got the lock in fair order.
+        for i in range(10):
+            self.assertEqual(i, lock_holder[i])
+
+    def test_fair_lock_with_semaphore(self):
+        def do_test():
+            s = lockutils.Semaphores()
+            with lockutils.lock('testlock', 'test-', semaphores=s, fair=True):
+                pass
+        self.assertRaises(NotImplementedError, do_test)
+
     def test_nested_synchronized_external_works(self):
         """We can nest external syncs."""
         tempdir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/add-option-for-fair-locks-b6d660e97683cec6.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/add-option-for-fair-locks-b6d660e97683cec6.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ad1cd4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/add-option-for-fair-locks-b6d660e97683cec6.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+---
+prelude: >
+    This release includes optional support for fair locks.  When fair locks
+    are specified, blocking waiters will acquire the lock in the order that
+    they blocked.
+features:
+  - |
+    We now have optional support for ``fair`` locks.  When fair locks are
+    specified, blocking waiters will acquire the lock in the order that they
+    blocked.  This can be useful to ensure that existing blocked waiters do
+    not wait indefinitely in the face of large numbers of new attempts to
+    acquire the lock.  When specifying locks as both ``external`` and ``fair``,
+    the ordering *within* a given process will be fair, but the ordering
+    *between* processes will be determined by the behaviour of the underlying
+    OS.