diff --git a/pkg/util/deadlock-detector.go b/pkg/util/deadlock-detector.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8b241ccf968
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/util/deadlock-detector.go
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2015 The Kubernetes Authors All rights reserved.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package util
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/golang/glog"
+)
+
+type Lockable interface {
+	Lock()
+	Unlock()
+}
+
+type rwMutexToLockableAdapter struct {
+	rw *sync.RWMutex
+}
+
+func (r *rwMutexToLockableAdapter) Lock() {
+	r.rw.RLock()
+}
+
+func (r *rwMutexToLockableAdapter) Unlock() {
+	r.rw.RUnlock()
+}
+
+type deadlockDetector struct {
+	name          string
+	lock          Lockable
+	maxLockPeriod time.Duration
+	clock         Clock
+}
+
+// DeadlockWatchdogReadLock creates a watchdog on read/write mutex.  If the mutex can not be acquired
+// for read access within 'maxLockPeriod', the program exits via glog.Exitf() or os.Exit() if that fails
+// 'name' is a semantic name that is useful for the user and is printed on exit.
+func DeadlockWatchdogReadLock(lock *sync.RWMutex, name string, maxLockPeriod time.Duration) {
+	DeadlockWatchdog(&rwMutexToLockableAdapter{lock}, name, maxLockPeriod)
+}
+
+func DeadlockWatchdog(lock Lockable, name string, maxLockPeriod time.Duration) {
+	detector := &deadlockDetector{
+		lock:  lock,
+		name:  name,
+		clock: RealClock{},
+	}
+	go detector.run()
+}
+
+func (d *deadlockDetector) run() {
+	for {
+		ch := make(chan bool, 1)
+		go func() {
+			d.lock.Lock()
+			d.lock.Unlock()
+
+			ch <- true
+		}()
+		select {
+		case <-time.After(d.maxLockPeriod):
+			go func() {
+				defer func() {
+					// Let's just be extra sure we die, even if Exitf panics
+					glog.Errorf("Failed to Exitf for %s, dying anyway", d.name)
+					os.Exit(2)
+				}()
+				glog.Exitf("Deadlock on %s, exiting", d.name)
+			}()
+		case <-ch:
+			glog.V(6).Infof("%s is not deadlocked", d.name)
+		}
+		time.Sleep(d.maxLockPeriod / 2)
+	}
+}