diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/utils/lock.sh b/Library/Homebrew/utils/lock.sh
index 7f0638c1ac..7f2bb8b73f 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/utils/lock.sh
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/utils/lock.sh
@@ -38,14 +38,19 @@ _create_lock() {
   local lock_fd="$1"
   local name="$2"
   local ruby="/usr/bin/ruby"
+  local python="/usr/bin/python"
   [[ -x "$ruby" ]] || ruby="$(which ruby 2>/dev/null)"
+  [[ -x "$python" ]] || python="$(which python 2>/dev/null)"
 
-  if [[ -n "$ruby" ]]
+  if [[ -x "$ruby" ]] && "$ruby" -e "exit(RUBY_VERSION >= '1.8.7')"
   then
     "$ruby" -e "File.new($lock_fd).flock(File::LOCK_EX | File::LOCK_NB) || exit(1)"
-  elif [[ -n "$(which flock)" ]]
+  elif [[ -x "$(which flock)" ]]
   then
     flock -n "$lock_fd"
+  elif [[ -x "$python" ]]
+  then
+    "$python" -c "import fcntl; fcntl.flock($lock_fd, fcntl.LOCK_EX | fcntl.LOCK_NB)"
   else
     onoe "Cannot create $name lock, please avoid running Homebrew in parallel."
   fi