diff --git a/src/experimaestro/connectors/local.py b/src/experimaestro/connectors/local.py
index 5d5db18..13b33dd 100644
--- a/src/experimaestro/connectors/local.py
+++ b/src/experimaestro/connectors/local.py
@@ -6,10 +6,10 @@
 import os
 import threading
 from experimaestro.launcherfinder import LauncherRegistry
-import fasteners
+from fasteners import InterProcessLock as FastenersInterProcessLock
 import psutil
 
-from experimaestro.locking import Lock
+from asyncio import Lock
 
 from . import (
     Connector,
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ def fromspec(connector, spec):
 
 
 def getstream(redirect: Redirect, write: bool):
-    if redirect.type == RedirectType.FILE:
+    if redirect.type == RedirectType.FILE and redirect.path:
         return redirect.path.open("w" if write else "r")
 
     if redirect.type == RedirectType.PIPE:
@@ -145,25 +145,35 @@ def start(self, task_mode=False):
         return process
 
 
-class InterProcessLock(fasteners.InterProcessLock, Lock):
+class InterProcessLock(FastenersInterProcessLock, Lock):
     def __init__(self, path, max_delay=-1):
-        super().__init__(path)
+        FastenersInterProcessLock.__init__(self, path)
         self.max_delay = max_delay
 
     def __enter__(self):
         logger.debug("Locking %s", self.path)
-        if not super().acquire(blocking=True, max_delay=self.max_delay, timeout=None):
+        if not FastenersInterProcessLock.acquire(
+            self, blocking=True, max_delay=self.max_delay, timeout=None
+        ):
             raise threading.ThreadError("Could not acquire lock")
         logger.debug("Locked %s", self.path)
         return self
 
+    def __aenter__(self):
+        # use the synchronous __enter__ method in async context
+        return self.__enter__()
+
     def __exit__(self, *args):
         logger.debug("Unlocking %s", self.path)
         super().__exit__(*args)
 
+    def __aexit__(self, *args):
+        # use the synchronous __exit__ method in async context
+        return self.__exit__(*args)
+
 
 class LocalConnector(Connector):
-    INSTANCE: Connector = None
+    INSTANCE: Optional[Connector] = None
 
     @staticmethod
     def instance():
@@ -175,7 +185,7 @@ def instance():
     def init_registry(registry: LauncherRegistry):
         pass
 
-    def __init__(self, localpath: Path = None):
+    def __init__(self, localpath: Optional[Path] = None):
         localpath = localpath
         if not localpath:
             localpath = Path(
@@ -200,7 +210,7 @@ def createtoken(self, name: str, total: int) -> Token:
     def processbuilder(self) -> ProcessBuilder:
         return LocalProcessBuilder()
 
-    def resolve(self, path: Path, basepath: Path = None) -> str:
+    def resolve(self, path: Path, basepath: Optional[Path] = None) -> str:
         assert isinstance(path, PosixPath) or isinstance(
             path, WindowsPath
         ), f"Unrecognized path {type(path)}"
diff --git a/src/experimaestro/connectors/ssh.py b/src/experimaestro/connectors/ssh.py
index 115e532..ed850d7 100644
--- a/src/experimaestro/connectors/ssh.py
+++ b/src/experimaestro/connectors/ssh.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 import io
 import os
 import re
+from asyncio import Lock
 from experimaestro.launcherfinder import LauncherRegistry
 from urllib.parse import urlparse
 from itertools import chain
@@ -19,7 +20,6 @@
     RedirectType,
     Redirect,
 )
-from experimaestro.locking import Lock
 from experimaestro.tokens import Token
 
 try:
diff --git a/src/experimaestro/locking.py b/src/experimaestro/locking.py
index 1440b92..a98001b 100644
--- a/src/experimaestro/locking.py
+++ b/src/experimaestro/locking.py
@@ -1,68 +1,42 @@
-from experimaestro.utils.asyncio import asyncThreadcheck
+from asyncio import Lock
 from .utils import logger
 
 
-class Lock:
-    """A lock"""
-
-    def __init__(self):
-        self._level = 0
-        self.detached = False
-
-    def detach(self):
-        self.detached = True
-
-    def acquire(self):
-        if self._level == 0:
-            self._level += 1
-            self._acquire()
-        return self
-
-    def release(self):
-        if not self.detached and self._level == 1:
-            self._level -= 1
-            self._release()
-
-    def __enter__(self):
-        self.acquire()
-        return self
-
-    def __exit__(self, *args):
-        self.release()
-
-    async def __aenter__(self):
-        return await asyncThreadcheck("lock (aenter)", self.__enter__)
-
-    async def __aexit__(self, *args):
-        return await asyncThreadcheck("lock (aexit)", self.__exit__, *args)
-
-    def _acquire(self):
-        raise NotImplementedError()
-
-    def _release(self):
-        raise NotImplementedError()
-
-
 class LockError(Exception):
     pass
 
 
 class Locks(Lock):
-    """A set of locks"""
+    """A set of locks that can be acquired/released together"""
 
     def __init__(self):
         super().__init__()
         self.locks = []
 
     def append(self, lock):
+        """Add a lock to the collection"""
         self.locks.append(lock)
 
-    def _acquire(self):
-        for lock in self.locks:
-            lock.acquire()
+    async def acquire(self):
+        """Acquire all locks in order"""
+        if not self.locked():
+            for lock in self.locks:
+                await lock.acquire()
+            self._acquired = True
+        await super().acquire()
+        return self
+
+    def release(self):
+        """Release all locks in reverse order"""
+        if self.locked():
+            # if not self.detached and self._acquired:
+            logger.debug("Releasing %d locks", len(self.locks))
+            # Release in reverse order to prevent deadlocks
+            for lock in reversed(self.locks):
+                logger.debug("[locks] Releasing %s", lock)
+                lock.release()
+            super().release()
 
-    def _release(self):
-        logger.debug("Releasing %d locks", len(self.locks))
-        for lock in self.locks:
-            logger.debug("[locks] Releasing %s", lock)
-            lock.release()
+    async def __aenter__(self):
+        await super().__aenter__()
+        return self
diff --git a/src/experimaestro/scheduler/dependencies.py b/src/experimaestro/scheduler/dependencies.py
index 988b578..fc323ff 100644
--- a/src/experimaestro/scheduler/dependencies.py
+++ b/src/experimaestro/scheduler/dependencies.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 import asyncio
 from enum import Enum
 from ..utils import logger
-from ..locking import Lock
+
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from . import Job
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ def __init__(self, origin):
     def status(self) -> DependencyStatus:
         raise NotImplementedError()
 
-    def lock(self) -> Lock:
+    def lock(self) -> asyncio.Lock:
         raise NotImplementedError()
 
     def __repr__(self) -> str:
diff --git a/src/experimaestro/scheduler/jobs.py b/src/experimaestro/scheduler/jobs.py
index f8d9e0f..ca1737f 100644
--- a/src/experimaestro/scheduler/jobs.py
+++ b/src/experimaestro/scheduler/jobs.py
@@ -74,10 +74,18 @@ def __init__(self, job):
         super().__init__()
         self.job = job
 
-    def _acquire(self):
+    # def _acquire(self):
+    #     return self.job.state == JobState.DONE
+
+    async def acquire(self):
+        await super().acquire()
         return self.job.state == JobState.DONE
 
-    def _release(self):
+    # def _release(self):
+    #     return False
+
+    def release(self):
+        super().release()
         return False
 
 
@@ -299,9 +307,9 @@ async def aio_start(self, sched_dependency_lock, notification_server=None):
         # We first lock the job before proceeding
         assert self.launcher is not None
 
-        with Locks() as locks:
+        async with Locks() as locks:
             logger.debug("[starting] Locking job %s", self)
-            async with self.launcher.connector.lock(self.lockpath):
+            with self.launcher.connector.lock(self.lockpath):
                 logger.debug("[starting] Locked job %s", self)
 
                 state = None
@@ -317,7 +325,10 @@ async def aio_start(self, sched_dependency_lock, notification_server=None):
                     async with sched_dependency_lock:
                         for dependency in self.dependencies:
                             try:
-                                locks.append(dependency.lock().acquire())
+                                lock = dependency.lock()
+                                await lock.acquire()
+                                # locks.append(dependency.lock().acquire())
+                                locks.append(lock)
                             except LockError:
                                 logger.warning(
                                     "Could not lock %s, aborting start for job %s",
diff --git a/src/experimaestro/tokens.py b/src/experimaestro/tokens.py
index 93a1573..9909611 100644
--- a/src/experimaestro/tokens.py
+++ b/src/experimaestro/tokens.py
@@ -12,13 +12,14 @@
 import threading
 import os.path
 from watchdog.events import FileSystemEventHandler
+from asyncio import Lock
 from typing import Dict
 from experimaestro.launcherfinder.base import TokenConfiguration
 
 from experimaestro.launcherfinder.registry import LauncherRegistry
 
 from .ipc import ipcom
-from .locking import Lock, LockError
+from .locking import LockError
 from .scheduler.dependencies import Dependency, DependencyStatus, Resource
 import logging
 import json
@@ -51,9 +52,17 @@ def __init__(self, dependency: "CounterTokenDependency"):
     def _acquire(self):
         self.dependency.token.acquire(self.dependency)
 
+    async def acquire(self):
+        self._acquire()
+        return await super().acquire()
+
     def _release(self):
         self.dependency.token.release(self.dependency)
 
+    def release(self):
+        self._release()
+        return super().release()
+
     def __str__(self):
         return "Lock(%s)" % self.dependency