diff --git a/lib/util.C b/lib/util.C
index 0ea9a32697..40f6acc8e0 100755
--- a/lib/util.C
+++ b/lib/util.C
@@ -155,14 +155,14 @@ int lock_file(char* filename) {
     int retval;
         
     // some systems have both!
+#ifdef HAVE_FLOCK
+    int lock = open(filename, O_WRONLY|O_CREAT, 0644);
+    retval = flock(lock, LOCK_EX|LOCK_NB);
+#else
 #ifdef HAVE_LOCKF
     int lock = open(filename, O_WRONLY|O_CREAT, 0644);
     retval = lockf(lock, F_TLOCK, 1);
     // must leave fd open
-#else
-#ifdef HAVE_FLOCK
-    int lock = open(filename, O_WRONLY|O_CREAT, 0644);
-    retval = flock(lock, LOCK_EX|LOCK_NB);
 #endif
 #endif