diff --git a/doc/us/manual.html b/doc/us/manual.html
index 9d53037..ee80703 100644
--- a/doc/us/manual.html
+++ b/doc/us/manual.html
@@ -171,6 +171,16 @@ LuaFileSystem offers the following functions:
     <code>path</code>.<br />
     Returns <code>true</code> in case of success or <code>nil</code> plus an
     error string.</dd>
+
+    <dt><a name="chdir"></a><strong><code>lfs.lock_dir(path, [seconds_stale])</code></strong></dt>
+    <dd>Creates a lockfile (called lockfile.lfs) in <code>path</code> if it does not
+  exist and returns the lock. If the lock already exists checks it
+  it's stale, using the second parameter (default for the second
+  parameter is <code>INT_MAX</code>, which in practice means the lock will never
+  be stale. To free the the lock call <code>lock:free()</code>. <br/>
+   In case of any errors it returns nil and the error message. In
+  particular, if the lock exists and is not stale it returns the
+  "File exists" message.</dd>
         
     <dt><a name="getcwd"></a><strong><code>lfs.currentdir ()</code></strong></dt>
     <dd>Returns a string with the current working directory or <code>nil</code>
@@ -251,7 +261,7 @@ LuaFileSystem offers the following functions:
 
 <div id="about">
 	<p><a href="http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=referer">Valid XHTML 1.0!</a></p>
-	<p><small>$Id: manual.html,v 1.43 2008/05/08 18:45:15 carregal Exp $</small></p>
+	<p><small>$Id: manual.html,v 1.44 2009/04/24 22:24:06 mascarenhas Exp $</small></p>
 </div> <!-- id="about" -->
 
 </div> <!-- id="container" -->
diff --git a/src/lfs.c b/src/lfs.c
index de5918f..060034c 100644
--- a/src/lfs.c
+++ b/src/lfs.c
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 **   lfs.currentdir ()
 **   lfs.dir (path)
 **   lfs.lock (fh, mode)
+**   lfs.lock_dir (path)
 **   lfs.mkdir (path)
 **   lfs.rmdir (path)
 **   lfs.setmode (filepath, mode)
@@ -16,7 +17,7 @@
 **   lfs.touch (filepath [, atime [, mtime]])
 **   lfs.unlock (fh)
 **
-** $Id: lfs.c,v 1.58 2009/04/24 22:11:12 mascarenhas Exp $
+** $Id: lfs.c,v 1.59 2009/04/24 22:24:07 mascarenhas Exp $
 */
 
 #ifndef _WIN32
@@ -222,11 +223,15 @@ static int lfs_lock_dir(lua_State *L) {
     lua_pushnil(L); lua_pushstring(L, strerror(errno)); return 2;
   }
   strcpy(ln, path); strcat(ln, lockfile);
-  while((fd = CreateFile(ln, GENERIC_WRITE, 0, NULL, CREATE_NEW, 
+  if((fd = CreateFile(ln, GENERIC_WRITE, 0, NULL, CREATE_NEW, 
 	  	FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL | FILE_FLAG_DELETE_ON_CLOSE, NULL)) == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
   	int en = GetLastError();
-  	if(en == ERROR_FILE_EXISTS || en == ERROR_SHARING_VIOLATION) continue;
-	free(ln); lua_pushnil(L); lua_pushstring(L, strerror(errno)); return 2;
+  	free(ln); lua_pushnil(L);
+  	if(en == ERROR_FILE_EXISTS || en == ERROR_SHARING_VIOLATION)
+  		lua_pushstring(L, "File exists");
+  	else
+		lua_pushstring(L, strerror(en));
+	return 2;
   }
   free(ln);
   lock = (lfs_Lock*)lua_newuserdata(L, sizeof(lfs_Lock));