According to one embodiment of the invention, a method comprises receiving a write request for a file. A temporary file associated with the file is created in response to the write request. A write-lock is applied to the temporary file, namely the file includes a setting that restricts write access to only a component that created or opens the temporary file. Thereafter, the temporary file is closed to disable the write-lock and to enable a component that initiated the write request to access the temporary file.