diff --git a/lib/remote_storage/swift.rb b/lib/remote_storage/swift.rb
index 535947e..b815ca3 100644
--- a/lib/remote_storage/swift.rb
+++ b/lib/remote_storage/swift.rb
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ module RemoteStorage
 
       server.halt 401 unless permission
       if ["PUT", "DELETE"].include? request_method
+        server.halt 503 if directory_backend(user).match /locked/
         server.halt 401 unless permission == "rw"
       end
     end
diff --git a/spec/swift/app_spec.rb b/spec/swift/app_spec.rb
index b4b9d38..ac0b41a 100644
--- a/spec/swift/app_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/swift/app_spec.rb
@@ -101,6 +101,38 @@ describe "App" do
           metadata.must_be_empty
         end
       end
+
+      describe "directory backend configuration" do
+        context "locked new backed" do
+          before do
+            redis.set "rs_config:dir_backend:phil", "new-locked"
+          end
+
+          it "responds with 503" do
+            put "/phil/food/aguacate", "si"
+
+            last_response.status.must_equal 503
+
+            metadata = redis.hgetall "rs_meta:phil:food/aguacate"
+            metadata.must_be_empty
+          end
+        end
+
+        context "locked legacy backend" do
+          before do
+            redis.set "rs_config:dir_backend:phil", "legacy-locked"
+          end
+
+          it "responds with 503" do
+            put "/phil/food/aguacate", "si"
+
+            last_response.status.must_equal 503
+
+            metadata = redis.hgetall "rs_meta:phil:food/aguacate"
+            metadata.must_be_empty
+          end
+        end
+      end
     end
   end