diff --git a/libbeat/cmd/instance/beat.go b/libbeat/cmd/instance/beat.go
index 6a2107d8eef8..a8f92f84c128 100644
--- a/libbeat/cmd/instance/beat.go
+++ b/libbeat/cmd/instance/beat.go
@@ -366,6 +366,15 @@ func (b *Beat) launch(settings Settings, bt beat.Creator) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	// Try to acquire exclusive lock on data path to prevent another beat instance
+	// sharing same data path.
+	bl := newLocker(b)
+	err = bl.lock()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer bl.unlock()
+
 	// Set Beat ID in registry vars, in case it was loaded from meta file
 	infoRegistry := monitoring.GetNamespace("info").GetRegistry()
 	monitoring.NewString(infoRegistry, "uuid").Set(b.Info.ID.String())
diff --git a/libbeat/cmd/instance/locker.go b/libbeat/cmd/instance/locker.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..da91d97bc68b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libbeat/cmd/instance/locker.go
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+// Licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one or more contributor
+// license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+// this work for additional information regarding copyright
+// ownership. Elasticsearch B.V. licenses this file to you 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 instance
+
+import (
+	"os"
+
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+	flock "github.com/theckman/go-flock"
+
+	"github.com/elastic/beats/libbeat/paths"
+)
+
+var (
+	// ErrAlreadyLocked is returned when a lock on the data path is attempted but
+	// unsuccessful because another Beat instance already has the lock on the same
+	// data path.
+	ErrAlreadyLocked = errors.New("data path already locked by another beat")
+)
+
+type locker struct {
+	fl *flock.Flock
+}
+
+func newLocker(b *Beat) *locker {
+	lockfilePath := paths.Resolve(paths.Data, b.Info.Beat+".lock")
+	return &locker{
+		fl: flock.NewFlock(lockfilePath),
+	}
+}
+
+// lock attemps to acquire a lock on the data path for the currently-running
+// Beat instance. If another Beats instance already has a lock on the same data path
+// an ErrAlreadyLocked error is returned.
+func (l *locker) lock() error {
+	isLocked, err := l.fl.TryLock()
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "unable to lock data path")
+	}
+
+	if !isLocked {
+		return ErrAlreadyLocked
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// unlock attempts to release the lock on a data path previously acquired via Lock().
+func (l *locker) unlock() error {
+	err := l.fl.Unlock()
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "unable to unlock data path")
+	}
+
+	err = os.Remove(l.fl.Path())
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "unable to unlock data path")
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/libbeat/cmd/instance/locker_test.go b/libbeat/cmd/instance/locker_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e6feab0e7fed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libbeat/cmd/instance/locker_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+// Licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one or more contributor
+// license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+// this work for additional information regarding copyright
+// ownership. Elasticsearch B.V. licenses this file to you 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.
+
+// +build !integration
+
+package instance
+
+import (
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+
+	"github.com/elastic/beats/libbeat/paths"
+)
+
+// TestLocker tests that two beats pointing to the same data path cannot
+// acquire the same lock.
+func TestLocker(t *testing.T) {
+	// Setup temporary data folder for test + clean it up at end of test
+	tmpDataDir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "data")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer os.RemoveAll(tmpDataDir)
+
+	origDataPath := paths.Paths.Data
+	defer func() {
+		paths.Paths.Data = origDataPath
+	}()
+	paths.Paths.Data = tmpDataDir
+
+	// Setup two beats with same name and data path
+	const beatName = "testbeat"
+
+	b1 := &Beat{}
+	b1.Info.Beat = beatName
+
+	b2 := &Beat{}
+	b2.Info.Beat = beatName
+
+	// Try to get a lock for the first beat. Expect it to succeed.
+	bl1 := newLocker(b1)
+	err = bl1.lock()
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Try to get a lock for the second beat. Expect it to fail because the
+	// first beat already has the lock.
+	bl2 := newLocker(b2)
+	err = bl2.lock()
+	assert.EqualError(t, err, ErrAlreadyLocked.Error())
+}