diff --git a/engine/graph/engine.go b/engine/graph/engine.go
index b9b4dcd6..ae884801 100644
--- a/engine/graph/engine.go
+++ b/engine/graph/engine.go
@@ -155,6 +155,10 @@ func (obj *Engine) Apply(fn func(*pgraph.Graph) error) error {
 // it errors, then the running graph wasn't changed. It is recommended that you
 // pause the engine before running this, and resume it after you're done.
 func (obj *Engine) Commit() error {
+	// It would be safer to lock this, but it would be slower and mask bugs.
+	//obj.mutex.Lock()
+	//defer obj.mutex.Unlock()
+
 	// TODO: Does this hurt performance or graph changes ?
 
 	start := []func() error{} // functions to run after graphsync to start...
@@ -349,8 +353,13 @@ func (obj *Engine) Commit() error {
 // Resume runs the currently active graph. It also un-pauses the graph if it was
 // paused. Very little that is interesting should happen here. It all happens in
 // the Commit method. After Commit, new things are already started, but we still
-// need to Resume any pre-existing resources.
+// need to Resume any pre-existing resources. Do not call this concurrently with
+// the Pause method.
 func (obj *Engine) Resume() error {
+	// It would be safer to lock this, but it would be slower and mask bugs.
+	//obj.mutex.Lock()
+	//defer obj.mutex.Unlock()
+
 	if !obj.paused {
 		return fmt.Errorf("already resumed")
 	}
@@ -385,6 +394,10 @@ func (obj *Engine) SetFastPause() {
 
 // Pause the active, running graph.
 func (obj *Engine) Pause(fastPause bool) error {
+	// It would be safer to lock this, but it would be slower and mask bugs.
+	//obj.mutex.Lock()
+	//defer obj.mutex.Unlock()
+
 	if obj.paused {
 		return fmt.Errorf("already paused")
 	}
diff --git a/engine/graph/state.go b/engine/graph/state.go
index b3eef5a6..7035f86b 100644
--- a/engine/graph/state.go
+++ b/engine/graph/state.go
@@ -322,11 +322,11 @@ func (obj *State) Poke() {
 	}
 }
 
-// Pause pauses this resource. It should not be called on any already paused
+// Pause pauses this resource. It must not be called on any already paused
 // resource. It will block until the resource pauses with an acknowledgment, or
 // until an exit for that resource is seen. If the latter happens it will error.
-// It is NOT thread-safe with the Resume() method so only call either one at a
-// time.
+// It must not be called concurrently with either the Resume() method or itself,
+// so only call these one at a time and alternate between the two.
 func (obj *State) Pause() error {
 	if obj.paused {
 		return fmt.Errorf("already paused")
@@ -349,9 +349,10 @@ func (obj *State) Pause() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// Resume unpauses this resource. It can be safely called on a brand-new
-// resource that has just started running without incident. It is NOT
-// thread-safe with the Pause() method, so only call either one at a time.
+// Resume unpauses this resource. It can be safely called once on a brand-new
+// resource that has just started running, without incident. It must not be
+// called concurrently with either the Pause() method or itself, so only call
+// these one at a time and alternate between the two.
 func (obj *State) Resume() {
 	// TODO: do we need a mutex around Resume?
 	if !obj.paused { // no need to unpause brand-new resources