diff --git a/Package.swift b/Package.swift
index 01fe34fb..9446d21a 100644
--- a/Package.swift
+++ b/Package.swift
@@ -92,7 +92,12 @@ let package = Package(
             exclude: ["openapi-generator-config.yaml", "patch.js"]
         ),
         // common utilities shared across xtool targets
-        .target(name: "XUtils"),
+        .target(
+            name: "XUtils",
+            dependencies: [
+                .product(name: "SystemPackage", package: "swift-system"),
+            ]
+        ),
         .target(
             name: "XKit",
             dependencies: [
diff --git a/Sources/XUtils/System+Utils.swift b/Sources/XUtils/System+Utils.swift
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..df47da9f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Sources/XUtils/System+Utils.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+import Foundation
+
+#if canImport(System)
+import System
+
+public typealias FilePath = System.FilePath
+public typealias FileDescriptor = System.FileDescriptor
+public typealias Errno = System.Errno
+#else
+import SystemPackage
+
+public typealias FilePath = SystemPackage.FilePath
+public typealias FileDescriptor = SystemPackage.FileDescriptor
+public typealias Errno = SystemPackage.Errno
+
+extension URL {
+    public init?(filePath: FilePath) {
+        self.init(filePath: filePath.string)
+    }
+}
+
+extension FilePath {
+    public init?(_ url: URL) {
+        guard url.isFileURL else { return nil }
+        self.init(url.path)
+    }
+}
+#endif
+
+extension FileDescriptor {
+    enum LockMode {
+        case shared
+        case exclusive
+
+        fileprivate var raw: CInt {
+            switch self {
+            case .shared: LOCK_SH
+            case .exclusive: LOCK_EX
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    func tryLock(mode: LockMode) throws -> Bool {
+        if flock(rawValue, mode.raw | LOCK_NB) == 0 {
+            return true
+        }
+        let err = errno
+        if err == EWOULDBLOCK {
+            return false
+        }
+        throw Errno(rawValue: err)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Sources/XUtils/TemporaryDirectory.swift b/Sources/XUtils/TemporaryDirectory.swift
index d3206c8d..fdd32952 100644
--- a/Sources/XUtils/TemporaryDirectory.swift
+++ b/Sources/XUtils/TemporaryDirectory.swift
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ package struct TemporaryDirectory: ~Copyable {
     private static let debugTmp = ProcessInfo.processInfo.environment["XTL_DEBUG_TMP"] != nil
 
     private var shouldDelete: Bool
+    private let base: URL
     package let url: URL
 
     /// Prepares a fresh tmpdir root.
@@ -19,15 +20,19 @@ package struct TemporaryDirectory: ~Copyable {
     /// To save the contents, move them elsewhere with ``persist(at:)``.
     package init(name: String) throws {
         do {
-            let basename = name.replacingOccurrences(of: ".", with: "_")
-            self.url = try TemporaryDirectoryRoot.shared.url
+            let basename = name
+                .replacingOccurrences(of: ".", with: "_")
+                .replacingOccurrences(of: "/", with: "_")
+                .prefix(32)
+            self.base = try TemporaryDirectoryRoot.shared.url
                 // ensures uniqueness
-                .appendingPathComponent("tmp-\(basename)-\(UUID().uuidString)")
-                .appendingPathComponent(name, isDirectory: true)
+                .appendingPathComponent("dir-\(basename)-\(UUID().uuidString)")
+            self.url = base.appendingPathComponent(name, isDirectory: true)
             self.shouldDelete = true
         } catch {
             // non-copyable types can't be partially initialized so we need a stub value
-            self.url = URL(fileURLWithPath: "")
+            self.base = URL(fileURLWithPath: "")
+            self.url = base
             self.shouldDelete = false
             throw error
         }
@@ -40,11 +45,12 @@ package struct TemporaryDirectory: ~Copyable {
 
     private func _delete() {
         guard !Self.debugTmp else { return }
-        try? FileManager.default.removeItem(at: url)
+        try? FileManager.default.removeItem(at: base)
     }
 
     package consuming func persist(at location: URL) throws {
         try FileManager.default.moveItem(at: url, to: location)
+        _delete()
         // we do this after moving, so that if the move fails we clean up
         shouldDelete = false
     }
@@ -83,23 +89,95 @@ private struct TemporaryDirectoryRoot {
             url = FileManager.default.temporaryDirectory.appendingPathComponent("sh.xtool")
             #endif
         }
-        try? FileManager.default.removeItem(at: url)
-        do {
-            try FileManager.default.createDirectory(at: url, withIntermediateDirectories: true)
-        } catch {
-            self._url = .failure(Errors.tmpdirCreationFailed(url, error))
-            return
+
+        Self.pruneOrphans(in: url)
+
+        self._url = Result {
+            let childDir = try Self.claimDirectory(in: url)
+            try FileManager.default.createDirectory(at: childDir, withIntermediateDirectories: true)
+            return childDir
+        }
+        .mapError { $0 as? Errors ?? .tmpdirCreationFailed(url, $0) }
+    }
+
+    private static func claimDirectory(in url: URL) throws -> URL {
+        // create a lockfile + tmpdir. while we hold the lock, other instaces of
+        // xtool will not delete the directory during their prune step.
+
+        try FileManager.default.createDirectory(at: url, withIntermediateDirectories: true)
+
+        let pid = ProcessInfo.processInfo.processIdentifier
+
+        for i in 0..<10 {
+            let random = "pid-\(pid)-\(i == 0 ? "0" : UUID().uuidString)"
+            let lockFile = url.appending(path: "\(random).lock")
+            #if os(macOS)
+            let fd = try FileDescriptor.open(
+                FilePath(lockFile.path),
+                .writeOnly,
+                options: [.create, .exclusiveLock],
+                permissions: [.ownerReadWrite, .groupRead, .otherRead],
+            )
+            #else
+            let fd = try FileDescriptor.open(
+                FilePath(lockFile.path),
+                .writeOnly,
+                options: [.create],
+                permissions: [.ownerReadWrite, .groupRead, .otherRead],
+            )
+            guard try fd.tryLock(mode: .exclusive) else {
+                // someone else raced us and claimed the right to prune between when we created the file and
+                // when we tried to lock it
+                continue
+            }
+            #endif
+            // leak the file descriptor so that the lock is held until the process exits
+            return url.appending(path: random)
+        }
+        throw Errors.tmpdirClaimFailed(url)
+    }
+
+    private static func pruneOrphans(in url: URL) {
+        guard let children = try? FileManager.default.contentsOfDirectory(at: url, includingPropertiesForKeys: nil)
+            else { return }
+        for lock in children {
+            do {
+                let basename = lock.lastPathComponent
+                if basename.hasPrefix("tmp-") {
+                    // legacy tmpdir, remove it
+                    try? FileManager.default.removeItem(at: lock)
+                    continue
+                }
+                guard basename.hasPrefix("pid-") && basename.hasSuffix(".lock") else { continue }
+                let lockFD = try FileDescriptor.open(FilePath(lock.path), .readWrite)
+                defer { try? lockFD.close() }
+                if try lockFD.tryLock(mode: .exclusive) {
+                    // we must remove the directory first. if we instead removed the lock first,
+                    // we could be killed after the lock was removed but before the dir was
+                    // removed and therefore leave it hanging around.
+                    do {
+                        try FileManager.default.removeItem(at: lock.deletingPathExtension())
+                    } catch CocoaError.fileNoSuchFile {
+                        // pass
+                    }
+                    try FileManager.default.removeItem(at: lock)
+                }
+            } catch {
+                // continue
+            }
         }
-        self._url = .success(url)
     }
 
     enum Errors: Error, CustomStringConvertible {
         case tmpdirCreationFailed(URL, Error)
+        case tmpdirClaimFailed(URL)
 
         var description: String {
             switch self {
             case let .tmpdirCreationFailed(url, error):
-                "Could not create temporary directory at '\(url.path)': \(error)"
+                "Could not create temporary directory in '\(url.path)': \(error)"
+            case let .tmpdirClaimFailed(url):
+                "Could not claim temporary directory in '\(url.path)'"
             }
         }
     }