diff --git a/pyEvalData/io/palxfel.py b/pyEvalData/io/palxfel.py
index c80c039..9c70000 100644
--- a/pyEvalData/io/palxfel.py
+++ b/pyEvalData/io/palxfel.py
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@ def parse_raw(self):
                                                self.file_name.format(scan_number) + '.h5')
 
                         try:
+                            os.environ["HDF5_USE_FILE_LOCKING"] = "FALSE"
                             with h5py.File(h5_file, 'r') as h5:
                                 header = h5['R{0:04d}/header'.format(scan_number)]
 
@@ -171,6 +172,7 @@ def read_raw_scan_data(self, scan):
                                self.file_name.format(scan.number),
                                self.file_name.format(scan.number) + '.h5')
 
+        os.environ["HDF5_USE_FILE_LOCKING"] = "FALSE"
         with h5py.File(h5_file, 'r') as h5:
             entry = h5['R{0:04d}'.format(scan.number)]
             # iterate through data fields
diff --git a/pyEvalData/io/sardana_nexus.py b/pyEvalData/io/sardana_nexus.py
index ad30613..0be6f71 100644
--- a/pyEvalData/io/sardana_nexus.py
+++ b/pyEvalData/io/sardana_nexus.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 
 from numpy.core.records import fromarrays
 import nexusformat.nexus as nxs
-import os.path as path
+import os
 
 from .source import Source
 from .scan import Scan
@@ -95,8 +95,9 @@ def parse_raw(self):
 
         """
         self.log.info('parse_raw')
-        nxs_file_path = path.join(self.file_path, self.file_name)
+        nxs_file_path = os.path.join(self.file_path, self.file_name)
         try:
+            os.environ["HDF5_USE_FILE_LOCKING"] = "FALSE"
             nxs_file = nxs.nxload(nxs_file_path, mode='r')
         except nxs.NeXusError:
             raise nxs.NeXusError('Sardana NeXus file \'{:s}\' does not exist!'.format(
@@ -144,8 +145,9 @@ def read_raw_scan_data(self, scan):
         """
         self.log.info('read_raw_scan_data for scan #{:d}'.format(scan.number))
         # try to open the file
-        nxs_file_path = path.join(self.file_path, self.file_name)
+        nxs_file_path = os.path.join(self.file_path, self.file_name)
         try:
+            os.environ["HDF5_USE_FILE_LOCKING"] = "FALSE"
             nxs_file = nxs.nxload(nxs_file_path, mode='r')
         except nxs.NeXusError:
             raise nxs.NeXusError('Sardana NeXus file \'{:s}\' does not exist!'.format(