diff --git a/devstack/plugin.sh b/devstack/plugin.sh
index 16612e05..62d27650 100755
--- a/devstack/plugin.sh
+++ b/devstack/plugin.sh
@@ -215,6 +215,8 @@ function configure_ec2api {
         iniset $NOVA_CONF DEFAULT metadata_use_ssl "True"
     fi
 
+    iniset $EC2API_CONF_FILE oslo_concurrency lock_path $EC2API_STATE_PATH
+
     # configure the database.
     iniset $EC2API_CONF_FILE database connection `database_connection_url ec2api`
 
diff --git a/ec2api/api/vpc.py b/ec2api/api/vpc.py
index 61847e41..97ec5c23 100644
--- a/ec2api/api/vpc.py
+++ b/ec2api/api/vpc.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 
 from neutronclient.common import exceptions as neutron_exception
+from oslo_concurrency import lockutils
 from oslo_config import cfg
 from oslo_log import log as logging
 
@@ -33,6 +34,8 @@ from ec2api.i18n import _
 CONF = cfg.CONF
 LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+synchronized = lockutils.synchronized_with_prefix('ec2api-')
+
 
 """VPC-object related API implementation
 """
@@ -164,7 +167,13 @@ def _create_vpc(context, cidr_block, is_default=False):
 
 
 def _check_and_create_default_vpc(context):
-    if CONF.disable_ec2_classic and not context.is_os_admin:
+    if not CONF.disable_ec2_classic or context.is_os_admin:
+        return
+
+    lock_name = 'default-vpc-lock-{}-'.format(context.project_id)
+
+    @synchronized(lock_name, external=True)
+    def _check():
         for vpc in db_api.get_items(context, 'vpc'):
             if vpc.get('is_default'):
                 return vpc
@@ -176,6 +185,8 @@ def _check_and_create_default_vpc(context):
             LOG.exception('Failed to create default vpc')
         return None
 
+    return _check()
+
 
 ec2utils.set_check_and_create_default_vpc(_check_and_create_default_vpc)
 
diff --git a/ec2api/opts.py b/ec2api/opts.py
index 775078a6..ce9d6847 100644
--- a/ec2api/opts.py
+++ b/ec2api/opts.py
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ def list_opts():
              ec2api.exception.exc_log_opts,
              ec2api.paths.path_opts,
              ec2api.service.service_opts,
-             ec2api.utils.utils_opts,
              ec2api.wsgi.wsgi_opts,
          )),
     ]
diff --git a/ec2api/tests/unit/base.py b/ec2api/tests/unit/base.py
index 113c6efa..f5935815 100644
--- a/ec2api/tests/unit/base.py
+++ b/ec2api/tests/unit/base.py
@@ -16,9 +16,11 @@ import copy
 import itertools
 
 from cinderclient import client as cinderclient
+import fixtures
 from glanceclient import client as glanceclient
 import mock
 from novaclient import client as novaclient
+from oslo_concurrency import lockutils
 from oslo_config import fixture as config_fixture
 from oslotest import base as test_base
 
@@ -160,6 +162,11 @@ class BaseTestCase(MockOSMixin, MockDBMixin, test_base.BaseTestCase):
         super(BaseTestCase, self).setUp()
         self._conf = self.useFixture(config_fixture.Config())
         self.configure(fatal_exception_format_errors=True)
+        lock_path = self.useFixture(fixtures.TempDir()).path
+        self.fixture = self.useFixture(
+            config_fixture.Config(lockutils.CONF))
+        self.fixture.config(lock_path=lock_path,
+                            group='oslo_concurrency')
 
     def configure(self, **kwargs):
         self._conf.config(**kwargs)
diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index 10993ce6..b70e01e0 100755
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -11,10 +11,10 @@ CONNECTION="mysql://ec2api:ec2api@127.0.0.1/ec2api?charset=utf8"
 LOG_DIR=/var/log/ec2api
 CONF_DIR=/etc/ec2api
 NOVA_CONF=/etc/nova/nova.conf
-SIGNING_DIR=/var/cache/ec2api
 CONF_FILE=$CONF_DIR/ec2api.conf
 APIPASTE_FILE=$CONF_DIR/api-paste.ini
 
+DATA_DIR=${DATA_DIR:-/var/lib/ec2api}
 AUTH_CACHE_DIR=${AUTH_CACHE_DIR:-/var/cache/ec2api}
 
 CACHE_BACKEND='oslo_cache.dict'
@@ -289,6 +289,8 @@ iniset $CONF_FILE DEFAULT keystone_ec2_tokens_url "$OS_AUTH_URL/v3/ec2tokens"
 iniset $CONF_FILE database connection "$CONNECTION"
 iniset $CONF_FILE DEFAULT disable_ec2_classic "$DISABLE_EC2_CLASSIC"
 iniset $CONF_FILE DEFAULT external_network "$EXTERNAL_NETWORK"
+iniset $CONF_FILE oslo_concurrency lock_path "$EC2API_STATE_PATH"
+iniset $CONF_FILE DEFAULT state_path "$DATA_DIR"
 
 GROUP_AUTHTOKEN="keystone_authtoken"
 iniset $CONF_FILE $GROUP_AUTHTOKEN signing_dir "$AUTH_CACHE_DIR"
@@ -328,10 +330,6 @@ if [[ -f "$NOVA_CONF" ]]; then
         iniset $CONF_FILE DEFAULT s3_url "$s3_proto://$s3_host:$s3_port"
 
     fi
-
-    nova_state_path=$(iniget $NOVA_CONF DEFAULT state_path)
-    root_state_path=$(dirname $nova_state_path)
-    iniset $CONF_FILE DEFAULT state_path ${root_state_path}/ec2api
 fi
 
 #init cache dir
@@ -340,6 +338,12 @@ sudo mkdir -p $AUTH_CACHE_DIR
 sudo chown $USER $AUTH_CACHE_DIR
 sudo rm -f $AUTH_CACHE_DIR/*
 
+#init data dir
+echo Creating data dir
+sudo mkdir -p $DATA_DIR
+sudo chown $USER $DATA_DIR
+sudo rm -f $DATA_DIR/*
+
 #install it
 echo Installing package
 if [[ -z "$VIRTUAL_ENV" ]]; then