diff --git a/docs/docs/how-to/testing/unit-testing.md b/docs/docs/how-to/testing/unit-testing.md
index c5625b94ef95e..fa276fbb3907a 100644
--- a/docs/docs/how-to/testing/unit-testing.md
+++ b/docs/docs/how-to/testing/unit-testing.md
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ module.exports = {
     ".+\\.(css|styl|less|sass|scss)$": `identity-obj-proxy`,
     ".+\\.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|eot|otf|webp|svg|ttf|woff|woff2|mp4|webm|wav|mp3|m4a|aac|oga)$": `<rootDir>/__mocks__/file-mock.js`,
     "^gatsby-page-utils/(.*)$": `gatsby-page-utils/dist/$1`, // Workaround for https://github.com/facebook/jest/issues/9771
+    "^gatsby-core-utils/(.*)$": `gatsby-core-utils/dist/$1`, // Workaround for https://github.com/facebook/jest/issues/9771
   },
   testPathIgnorePatterns: [`node_modules`, `\\.cache`, `<rootDir>.*/public`],
   transformIgnorePatterns: [`node_modules/(?!(gatsby)/)`],
diff --git a/examples/using-jest/jest.config.js b/examples/using-jest/jest.config.js
index b2492077dfbd8..588b2b06ec5b1 100644
--- a/examples/using-jest/jest.config.js
+++ b/examples/using-jest/jest.config.js
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ module.exports = {
     ".+\\.(css|styl|less|sass|scss)$": `identity-obj-proxy`,
     ".+\\.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|eot|otf|webp|svg|ttf|woff|woff2|mp4|webm|wav|mp3|m4a|aac|oga)$": `<rootDir>/__mocks__/file-mock.js`,
     "^gatsby-page-utils/(.*)$": `gatsby-page-utils/dist/$1`, // Workaround for https://github.com/facebook/jest/issues/9771
+    "^gatsby-core-utils/(.*)$": `gatsby-core-utils/dist/$1`, // Workaround for https://github.com/facebook/jest/issues/9771
   },
   testPathIgnorePatterns: [`node_modules`, `.cache`],
   transformIgnorePatterns: [`node_modules/(?!(gatsby)/)`],
diff --git a/jest.config.js b/jest.config.js
index 7c3936da273c5..f30f5b8353b19 100644
--- a/jest.config.js
+++ b/jest.config.js
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ module.exports = {
     "^ordered-binary$": `<rootDir>/node_modules/ordered-binary/dist/index.cjs`,
     "^msgpackr$": `<rootDir>/node_modules/msgpackr/dist/node.cjs`,
     "^gatsby-page-utils/(.*)$": `gatsby-page-utils/dist/$1`, // Workaround for https://github.com/facebook/jest/issues/9771
+    "^gatsby-core-utils/(.*)$": `gatsby-core-utils/dist/$1`, // Workaround for https://github.com/facebook/jest/issues/9771
   },
   snapshotSerializers: [`jest-serializer-path`],
   collectCoverageFrom: coverageDirs,
diff --git a/packages/gatsby-core-utils/README.md b/packages/gatsby-core-utils/README.md
index fb16a3b62bdad..30d512d527339 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby-core-utils/README.md
+++ b/packages/gatsby-core-utils/README.md
@@ -104,3 +104,20 @@ const requireUtil = createRequireFromPath("../src/utils/")
 requireUtil("./some-tool")
 // ...
 ```
+
+### Mutex
+
+When working inside workers or async operations you want some kind of concurrency control that a specific work load can only concurrent one at a time. This is what a [Mutex](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_exclusion) does.
+
+By implementing the following code, the code is only executed one at a time and the other threads/async workloads are awaited until the current one is done. This is handy when writing to the same file to disk.
+
+```js
+const { createMutex } = require("gatsby-core-utils/mutex")
+
+const mutex = createMutex("my-custom-mutex-key")
+await mutex.acquire()
+
+await fs.writeFile("pathToFile", "my custom content")
+
+await mutex.release()
+```
diff --git a/packages/gatsby-core-utils/package.json b/packages/gatsby-core-utils/package.json
index 8ee0254105e74..1127d113fc900 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby-core-utils/package.json
+++ b/packages/gatsby-core-utils/package.json
@@ -6,6 +6,18 @@
     "gatsby",
     "gatsby-core-utils"
   ],
+  "exports": {
+    ".": "./dist/index.js",
+    "./*": "./dist/*.js"
+  },
+  "typesVersions": {
+    "*": {
+      "*": [
+        "dist/*.d.ts",
+        "dist/index.d.ts"
+      ]
+    }
+  },
   "author": "Ward Peeters <ward@coding-tech.com>",
   "homepage": "https://github.com/gatsbyjs/gatsby/tree/master/packages/gatsby-core-utils#readme",
   "license": "MIT",
@@ -36,9 +48,12 @@
     "file-type": "^16.5.3",
     "fs-extra": "^10.0.0",
     "got": "^11.8.3",
+    "import-from": "^4.0.0",
     "lock": "^1.1.0",
+    "lmdb": "^2.1.7",
     "node-object-hash": "^2.3.10",
     "proper-lockfile": "^4.1.2",
+    "resolve-from": "^5.0.0",
     "tmp": "^0.2.1",
     "xdg-basedir": "^4.0.0"
   },
diff --git a/packages/gatsby-core-utils/src/__tests__/mutex.ts b/packages/gatsby-core-utils/src/__tests__/mutex.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..66b7f00acd5c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/gatsby-core-utils/src/__tests__/mutex.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+import path from "path"
+import { remove, mkdirp } from "fs-extra"
+import { createMutex } from "../mutex"
+import * as storage from "../utils/get-storage"
+
+jest.spyOn(storage, `getDatabaseDir`)
+
+function sleep(timeout = 100): Promise<void> {
+  return new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, timeout))
+}
+
+async function doAsync(
+  mutex: ReturnType<typeof createMutex>,
+  result: Array<string> = [],
+  waitTime: number,
+  id: string
+): Promise<Array<string>> {
+  await mutex.acquire()
+  result.push(`start ${id}`)
+  await sleep(waitTime)
+  result.push(`stop ${id}`)
+  await mutex.release()
+
+  return result
+}
+
+describe(`mutex`, () => {
+  const cachePath = path.join(__dirname, `.cache`)
+  beforeAll(async () => {
+    await mkdirp(cachePath)
+    storage.getDatabaseDir.mockReturnValue(cachePath)
+  })
+
+  afterAll(async () => {
+    await storage.closeDatabase()
+    await remove(cachePath)
+  })
+
+  it(`should only allow one action go through at the same time`, async () => {
+    const mutex = createMutex(`test-key`, 300)
+
+    const result: Array<string> = []
+
+    doAsync(mutex, result, 50, `1`)
+    await sleep(0)
+    await doAsync(mutex, result, 10, `2`)
+
+    expect(result).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
+      Array [
+        "start 1",
+        "stop 1",
+        "start 2",
+        "stop 2",
+      ]
+    `)
+  })
+
+  it(`should generate the same mutex if key are identical`, async () => {
+    const mutex1 = createMutex(`test-key`, 300)
+    const mutex2 = createMutex(`test-key`, 300)
+
+    const result: Array<string> = []
+
+    const mutexPromise = doAsync(mutex1, result, 50, `1`)
+    await sleep(0)
+    await doAsync(mutex2, result, 10, `2`)
+    await mutexPromise
+
+    expect(result).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
+      Array [
+        "start 1",
+        "stop 1",
+        "start 2",
+        "stop 2",
+      ]
+    `)
+  })
+
+  it(`shouldn't wait if keys are different`, async () => {
+    const mutex1 = createMutex(`test-key`, 300)
+    const mutex2 = createMutex(`other-key`, 300)
+
+    const result: Array<string> = []
+
+    const mutexPromise = doAsync(mutex1, result, 50, `1`)
+    await sleep(0)
+    await doAsync(mutex2, result, 10, `2`)
+    await mutexPromise
+
+    expect(result).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
+      Array [
+        "start 1",
+        "start 2",
+        "stop 2",
+        "stop 1",
+      ]
+    `)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/packages/gatsby-core-utils/src/mutex.ts b/packages/gatsby-core-utils/src/mutex.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..b983e982c6ed2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/gatsby-core-utils/src/mutex.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+import { getStorage, LockStatus, getDatabaseDir } from "./utils/get-storage"
+
+interface IMutex {
+  acquire(): Promise<void>
+  release(): Promise<void>
+}
+
+// Random number to re-check if mutex got released
+const DEFAULT_MUTEX_INTERVAL = 3000
+
+async function waitUntilUnlocked(
+  storage: ReturnType<typeof getStorage>,
+  key: string,
+  timeout: number
+): Promise<void> {
+  const isUnlocked = await storage.mutex.ifNoExists(key, () => {
+    storage.mutex.put(key, LockStatus.Locked)
+  })
+
+  if (isUnlocked) {
+    return
+  }
+
+  await new Promise<void>(resolve => {
+    setTimeout(() => {
+      resolve(waitUntilUnlocked(storage, key, timeout))
+    }, timeout)
+  })
+}
+
+/**
+ * Creates a mutex, make sure to call `release` when you're done with it.
+ *
+ * @param {string} key A unique key
+ */
+export function createMutex(
+  key: string,
+  timeout = DEFAULT_MUTEX_INTERVAL
+): IMutex {
+  const storage = getStorage(getDatabaseDir())
+  const BUILD_ID = global.__GATSBY?.buildId ?? ``
+  const prefixedKey = `${BUILD_ID}-${key}`
+
+  return {
+    acquire: (): Promise<void> =>
+      waitUntilUnlocked(storage, prefixedKey, timeout),
+    release: async (): Promise<void> => {
+      await storage.mutex.remove(prefixedKey)
+    },
+  }
+}
+
+export async function releaseAllMutexes(): Promise<void> {
+  const storage = getStorage(getDatabaseDir())
+
+  await storage.mutex.clearAsync()
+}
diff --git a/packages/gatsby-core-utils/src/utils/get-lmdb.ts b/packages/gatsby-core-utils/src/utils/get-lmdb.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..36712050f5ad2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/gatsby-core-utils/src/utils/get-lmdb.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import path from "path"
+import importFrom from "import-from"
+import resolveFrom from "resolve-from"
+
+export function getLmdb(): typeof import("lmdb") {
+  const gatsbyPkgRoot = path.dirname(
+    resolveFrom(process.cwd(), `gatsby/package.json`)
+  )
+
+  // Try to use lmdb from gatsby if not we use our own version
+  try {
+    return importFrom(gatsbyPkgRoot, `lmdb`) as typeof import("lmdb")
+  } catch (err) {
+    return require(`lmdb`)
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/gatsby-core-utils/src/utils/get-storage.ts b/packages/gatsby-core-utils/src/utils/get-storage.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..63441fbbbed7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/gatsby-core-utils/src/utils/get-storage.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+import path from "path"
+import { getLmdb } from "./get-lmdb"
+import type { RootDatabase, Database } from "lmdb"
+
+export enum LockStatus {
+  Locked = 0,
+  Unlocked = 1,
+}
+
+interface ICoreUtilsDatabase {
+  mutex: Database<LockStatus, string>
+}
+
+let databases: ICoreUtilsDatabase | undefined
+let rootDb: RootDatabase
+
+export function getDatabaseDir(): string {
+  const rootDir = global.__GATSBY?.root ?? process.cwd()
+  return path.join(rootDir, `.cache`, `data`, `gatsby-core-utils`)
+}
+
+export function getStorage(fullDbPath: string): ICoreUtilsDatabase {
+  if (!databases) {
+    if (!fullDbPath) {
+      throw new Error(`LMDB path is not set!`)
+    }
+
+    // __GATSBY_OPEN_LMDBS tracks if we already opened given db in this process
+    // In `gatsby serve` case we might try to open it twice - once for engines
+    // and second to get access to `SitePage` nodes (to power trailing slashes
+    // redirect middleware). This ensure there is single instance within a process.
+    // Using more instances seems to cause weird random errors.
+    if (!globalThis.__GATSBY_OPEN_LMDBS) {
+      globalThis.__GATSBY_OPEN_LMDBS = new Map()
+    }
+
+    databases = globalThis.__GATSBY_OPEN_LMDBS.get(fullDbPath)
+
+    if (databases) {
+      return databases
+    }
+
+    const open = getLmdb().open
+
+    rootDb = open({
+      name: `root`,
+      path: fullDbPath,
+      compression: true,
+      sharedStructuresKey: Symbol.for(`structures`),
+    })
+
+    databases = {
+      mutex: rootDb.openDB({
+        name: `mutex`,
+      }),
+    }
+
+    globalThis.__GATSBY_OPEN_LMDBS.set(fullDbPath, databases)
+  }
+
+  return databases as ICoreUtilsDatabase
+}
+
+export async function closeDatabase(): Promise<void> {
+  if (rootDb) {
+    await rootDb.close()
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/gatsby/src/services/initialize.ts b/packages/gatsby/src/services/initialize.ts
index d0e3da2c6de7a..1dfa0caf5952e 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby/src/services/initialize.ts
+++ b/packages/gatsby/src/services/initialize.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import _ from "lodash"
 import { slash, isCI } from "gatsby-core-utils"
+import { releaseAllMutexes } from "gatsby-core-utils/mutex"
 import fs from "fs-extra"
 import md5File from "md5-file"
 import crypto from "crypto"
@@ -407,34 +408,29 @@ export async function initialize({
       // }
       // }
 
-      if (
-        process.env.GATSBY_EXPERIMENTAL_PRESERVE_FILE_DOWNLOAD_CACHE ||
-        process.env.GATSBY_EXPERIMENTAL_PRESERVE_WEBPACK_CACHE
-      ) {
-        const deleteGlobs = [
-          // By default delete all files & subdirectories
-          `${cacheDirectory}/**`,
-          `${cacheDirectory}/*/`,
-        ]
-
-        if (process.env.GATSBY_EXPERIMENTAL_PRESERVE_FILE_DOWNLOAD_CACHE) {
-          // Stop the caches directory from being deleted, add all sub directories,
-          // but remove gatsby-source-filesystem
-          deleteGlobs.push(`!${cacheDirectory}/caches`)
-          deleteGlobs.push(`${cacheDirectory}/caches/*`)
-          deleteGlobs.push(`!${cacheDirectory}/caches/gatsby-source-filesystem`)
-        }
+      const deleteGlobs = [
+        // By default delete all files & subdirectories
+        `${cacheDirectory}/**`,
+        `!${cacheDirectory}/data`,
+        `${cacheDirectory}/data/**`,
+        `!${cacheDirectory}/data/gatsby-core-utils/`,
+        `!${cacheDirectory}/data/gatsby-core-utils/**`,
+      ]
+
+      if (process.env.GATSBY_EXPERIMENTAL_PRESERVE_FILE_DOWNLOAD_CACHE) {
+        // Stop the caches directory from being deleted, add all sub directories,
+        // but remove gatsby-source-filesystem
+        deleteGlobs.push(`!${cacheDirectory}/caches`)
+        deleteGlobs.push(`${cacheDirectory}/caches/*`)
+        deleteGlobs.push(`!${cacheDirectory}/caches/gatsby-source-filesystem`)
+      }
 
-        if (process.env.GATSBY_EXPERIMENTAL_PRESERVE_WEBPACK_CACHE) {
-          // Add webpack
-          deleteGlobs.push(`!${cacheDirectory}/webpack`)
-        }
-        await del(deleteGlobs)
-      } else {
-        // Attempt to empty dir if remove fails,
-        // like when directory is mount point
-        await fs.remove(cacheDirectory).catch(() => fs.emptyDir(cacheDirectory))
+      if (process.env.GATSBY_EXPERIMENTAL_PRESERVE_WEBPACK_CACHE) {
+        // Add webpack
+        deleteGlobs.push(`!${cacheDirectory}/webpack`)
       }
+
+      await del(deleteGlobs)
     } catch (e) {
       reporter.error(`Failed to remove .cache files.`, e)
     }
@@ -445,6 +441,9 @@ export async function initialize({
       cacheIsCorrupt,
     })
 
+    // make sure all previous mutexes are released
+    await releaseAllMutexes()
+
     // in future this should show which plugin's caches are purged
     // possibly should also have which plugins had caches
     telemetry.decorateEvent(`BUILD_END`, {
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 248df0c638e88..5e5a9ee9524cb 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -12393,6 +12393,11 @@ import-from@3.0.0, import-from@^3.0.0:
   dependencies:
     resolve-from "^5.0.0"
 
+import-from@^4.0.0:
+  version "4.0.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/import-from/-/import-from-4.0.0.tgz#2710b8d66817d232e16f4166e319248d3d5492e2"
+  integrity sha512-P9J71vT5nLlDeV8FHs5nNxaLbrpfAV5cF5srvbZfpwpcJoM/xZR3hiv+q+SAnuSmuGbXMWud063iIMx/V/EWZQ==
+
 import-lazy@^2.1.0:
   version "2.1.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/import-lazy/-/import-lazy-2.1.0.tgz#05698e3d45c88e8d7e9d92cb0584e77f096f3e43"
@@ -14594,6 +14599,17 @@ lmdb-store@^1.6.11:
   optionalDependencies:
     msgpackr "^1.4.7"
 
+lmdb@^2.1.7:
+  version "2.2.1"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/lmdb/-/lmdb-2.2.1.tgz#b7fd22ed2268ab74aa71108b793678314a7b94bb"
+  integrity sha512-tUlIjyJvbd4mqdotI9Xe+3PZt/jqPx70VKFDrKMYu09MtBWOT3y2PbuTajX+bJFDjbgLkQC0cTx2n6dithp/zQ==
+  dependencies:
+    msgpackr "^1.5.4"
+    nan "^2.14.2"
+    node-gyp-build "^4.2.3"
+    ordered-binary "^1.2.4"
+    weak-lru-cache "^1.2.2"
+
 load-bmfont@^1.3.1, load-bmfont@^1.4.0:
   version "1.4.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/load-bmfont/-/load-bmfont-1.4.0.tgz#75f17070b14a8c785fe7f5bee2e6fd4f98093b6b"
@@ -16228,6 +16244,13 @@ msgpackr@^1.4.7:
   optionalDependencies:
     msgpackr-extract "^1.0.14"
 
+msgpackr@^1.5.4:
+  version "1.5.4"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/msgpackr/-/msgpackr-1.5.4.tgz#2b6ea6cb7d79c0ad98fc76c68163c48eda50cf0d"
+  integrity sha512-Z7w5Jg+2Q9z9gJxeM68d7tSuWZZGnFIRhZnyqcZCa/1dKkhOCNvR1TUV3zzJ3+vj78vlwKRzUgVDlW4jiSOeDA==
+  optionalDependencies:
+    msgpackr-extract "^1.0.14"
+
 msw@^0.35.0:
   version "0.35.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/msw/-/msw-0.35.0.tgz#18a4ceb6c822ef226a30421d434413bc45030d38"
@@ -17125,6 +17148,11 @@ ordered-binary@^1.0.0:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/ordered-binary/-/ordered-binary-1.1.3.tgz#11dbc0a4cb7f8248183b9845e031b443be82571e"
   integrity sha512-tDTls+KllrZKJrqRXUYJtIcWIyoQycP7cVN7kzNNnhHKF2bMKHflcAQK+pF2Eb1iVaQodHxqZQr0yv4HWLGBhQ==
 
+ordered-binary@^1.2.4:
+  version "1.2.4"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/ordered-binary/-/ordered-binary-1.2.4.tgz#51d3a03af078a0bdba6c7bc8f4fedd1f5d45d83e"
+  integrity sha512-A/csN0d3n+igxBPfUrjbV5GC69LWj2pjZzAAeeHXLukQ4+fytfP4T1Lg0ju7MSPSwq7KtHkGaiwO8URZN5IpLg==
+
 ordered-read-streams@^1.0.0:
   version "1.0.1"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/ordered-read-streams/-/ordered-read-streams-1.0.1.tgz#77c0cb37c41525d64166d990ffad7ec6a0e1363e"
@@ -24531,6 +24559,11 @@ weak-lru-cache@^1.0.0:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/weak-lru-cache/-/weak-lru-cache-1.1.2.tgz#a909a97372aabdfbfe3eb33580af255b3b198834"
   integrity sha512-Bi5ae8Bev3YulgtLTafpmHmvl3vGbanRkv+qqA2AX8c3qj/MUdvSuaHq7ukDYBcMDINIaRPTPEkXSNCqqWivuA==
 
+weak-lru-cache@^1.2.2:
+  version "1.2.2"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/weak-lru-cache/-/weak-lru-cache-1.2.2.tgz#fdbb6741f36bae9540d12f480ce8254060dccd19"
+  integrity sha512-DEAoo25RfSYMuTGc9vPJzZcZullwIqRDSI9LOy+fkCJPi6hykCnfKaXTuPBDuXAUcqHXyOgFtHNp/kB2FjYHbw==
+
 web-namespaces@^1.0.0:
   version "1.1.2"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/web-namespaces/-/web-namespaces-1.1.2.tgz#c8dc267ab639505276bae19e129dbd6ae72b22b4"