diff --git a/internal/api/lib.go b/internal/api/lib.go
index 3cdf4a0c1..e7f685eb4 100644
--- a/internal/api/lib.go
+++ b/internal/api/lib.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import "C"
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
 	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 	"syscall"
@@ -32,12 +33,32 @@ type (
 )
 
 type Cache struct {
-	ptr *C.cache_t
+	ptr      *C.cache_t
+	lockfile os.File
 }
 
 type Querier = types.Querier
 
 func InitCache(dataDir string, supportedCapabilities []string, cacheSize uint32, instanceMemoryLimit uint32) (Cache, error) {
+	err := os.MkdirAll(dataDir, 0755)
+	if err != nil {
+		return Cache{}, fmt.Errorf("Could not create base directory")
+	}
+
+	lockfile, err := os.OpenFile(dataDir+"/exclusive.lock", os.O_WRONLY|os.O_CREATE, 0666)
+	if err != nil {
+		return Cache{}, fmt.Errorf("Could not open exclusive.lock")
+	}
+	_, err = lockfile.WriteString("This is a lockfile that prevent two VM instances to operate on the same directory in parallel.\nSee codebase at github.com/CosmWasm/wasmvm for more information.\nSafety first – brought to you by Confio ❤️\n")
+	if err != nil {
+		return Cache{}, fmt.Errorf("Error writing to exclusive.lock")
+	}
+
+	err = syscall.Flock(int(lockfile.Fd()), syscall.LOCK_EX|syscall.LOCK_NB)
+	if err != nil {
+		return Cache{}, fmt.Errorf("Could not lock exclusive.lock. Is a different VM running in the same directory already?")
+	}
+
 	dataDirBytes := []byte(dataDir)
 	supportedCapabilitiesBytes := []byte(strings.Join(supportedCapabilities, ","))
 
@@ -52,11 +73,15 @@ func InitCache(dataDir string, supportedCapabilities []string, cacheSize uint32,
 	if err != nil {
 		return Cache{}, errorWithMessage(err, errmsg)
 	}
-	return Cache{ptr: ptr}, nil
+	return Cache{ptr: ptr, lockfile: *lockfile}, nil
 }
 
 func ReleaseCache(cache Cache) {
 	C.release_cache(cache.ptr)
+
+	// Release directory lock
+	syscall.Flock(int(cache.lockfile.Fd()), syscall.LOCK_UN)
+	cache.lockfile.Close()
 }
 
 func StoreCode(cache Cache, wasm []byte) ([]byte, error) {
diff --git a/internal/api/lib_test.go b/internal/api/lib_test.go
index c08d9701d..251b173e5 100644
--- a/internal/api/lib_test.go
+++ b/internal/api/lib_test.go
@@ -55,7 +55,47 @@ func TestInitCacheErrorsForBrokenDir(t *testing.T) {
 	// On Unix we should not have permission to create this.
 	cannotBeCreated := "/foo:bar"
 	_, err := InitCache(cannotBeCreated, TESTING_CAPABILITIES, TESTING_CACHE_SIZE, TESTING_MEMORY_LIMIT)
-	require.ErrorContains(t, err, "Error creating state directory")
+	require.ErrorContains(t, err, "Could not create base directory")
+}
+
+func TestInitLockingPreventsConcurrentAccess(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpdir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "wasmvm-testing")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer os.RemoveAll(tmpdir)
+
+	cache1, err1 := InitCache(tmpdir, TESTING_CAPABILITIES, TESTING_CACHE_SIZE, TESTING_MEMORY_LIMIT)
+	require.NoError(t, err1)
+
+	_, err2 := InitCache(tmpdir, TESTING_CAPABILITIES, TESTING_CACHE_SIZE, TESTING_MEMORY_LIMIT)
+	require.ErrorContains(t, err2, "Could not lock exclusive.lock")
+
+	ReleaseCache(cache1)
+
+	// Now we can try again
+	cache3, err3 := InitCache(tmpdir, TESTING_CAPABILITIES, TESTING_CACHE_SIZE, TESTING_MEMORY_LIMIT)
+	require.NoError(t, err3)
+	ReleaseCache(cache3)
+}
+
+func TestInitLockingAllowsMultipleInstancesInDifferentDirs(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpdir1, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "wasmvm-testing1")
+	tmpdir2, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "wasmvm-testing2")
+	tmpdir3, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "wasmvm-testing3")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer os.RemoveAll(tmpdir1)
+	defer os.RemoveAll(tmpdir2)
+	defer os.RemoveAll(tmpdir3)
+
+	cache1, err1 := InitCache(tmpdir1, TESTING_CAPABILITIES, TESTING_CACHE_SIZE, TESTING_MEMORY_LIMIT)
+	require.NoError(t, err1)
+	cache2, err2 := InitCache(tmpdir2, TESTING_CAPABILITIES, TESTING_CACHE_SIZE, TESTING_MEMORY_LIMIT)
+	require.NoError(t, err2)
+	cache3, err3 := InitCache(tmpdir3, TESTING_CAPABILITIES, TESTING_CACHE_SIZE, TESTING_MEMORY_LIMIT)
+	require.NoError(t, err3)
+
+	ReleaseCache(cache1)
+	ReleaseCache(cache2)
+	ReleaseCache(cache3)
 }
 
 func TestInitCacheEmptyCapabilities(t *testing.T) {