diff --git a/context.go b/context.go
index bcc3faa..a7f7d85 100644
--- a/context.go
+++ b/context.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
-	mutex sync.Mutex
+	mutex sync.RWMutex
 	data  = make(map[*http.Request]map[interface{}]interface{})
 	datat = make(map[*http.Request]int64)
 )
@@ -19,63 +19,64 @@ var (
 // Set stores a value for a given key in a given request.
 func Set(r *http.Request, key, val interface{}) {
 	mutex.Lock()
-	defer mutex.Unlock()
 	if data[r] == nil {
 		data[r] = make(map[interface{}]interface{})
 		datat[r] = time.Now().Unix()
 	}
 	data[r][key] = val
+	mutex.Unlock()
 }
 
 // Get returns a value stored for a given key in a given request.
 func Get(r *http.Request, key interface{}) interface{} {
-	mutex.Lock()
-	defer mutex.Unlock()
+	mutex.RLock()
 	if data[r] != nil {
+		mutex.RUnlock()
 		return data[r][key]
 	}
+	mutex.RUnlock()
 	return nil
 }
 
 // GetOk returns stored value and presence state like multi-value return of map access.
 func GetOk(r *http.Request, key interface{}) (interface{}, bool) {
-	mutex.Lock()
-	defer mutex.Unlock()
+	mutex.RLock()
 	if _, ok := data[r]; ok {
 		value, ok := data[r][key]
+		mutex.RUnlock()
 		return value, ok
 	}
+	mutex.RUnlock()
 	return nil, false
 }
 
 // GetAll returns all stored values for the request as a map. Nil is returned for invalid requests.
 func GetAll(r *http.Request) map[interface{}]interface{} {
-	mutex.Lock()
-	defer mutex.Unlock()
-
+	mutex.RLock()
 	if context, ok := data[r]; ok {
+		mutex.RUnlock()
 		return context
 	}
+	mutex.RUnlock()
 	return nil
 }
 
 // GetAllOk returns all stored values for the request as a map. It returns not
 // ok if the request was never registered.
 func GetAllOk(r *http.Request) (map[interface{}]interface{}, bool) {
-	mutex.Lock()
-	defer mutex.Unlock()
-
+	mutex.RLock()
 	context, ok := data[r]
+	mutex.RUnlock()
 	return context, ok
 }
 
 // Delete removes a value stored for a given key in a given request.
 func Delete(r *http.Request, key interface{}) {
 	mutex.Lock()
-	defer mutex.Unlock()
 	if data[r] != nil {
 		delete(data[r], key)
 	}
+	mutex.Unlock()
 }
 
 // Clear removes all values stored for a given request.
@@ -84,8 +85,8 @@ func Delete(r *http.Request, key interface{}) {
 // variables at the end of a request lifetime. See ClearHandler().
 func Clear(r *http.Request) {
 	mutex.Lock()
-	defer mutex.Unlock()
 	clear(r)
+	mutex.Unlock()
 }
 
 // clear is Clear without the lock.
@@ -105,7 +106,6 @@ func clear(r *http.Request) {
 // periodically until the problem is fixed.
 func Purge(maxAge int) int {
 	mutex.Lock()
-	defer mutex.Unlock()
 	count := 0
 	if maxAge <= 0 {
 		count = len(data)
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ func Purge(maxAge int) int {
 			}
 		}
 	}
+	mutex.Unlock()
 	return count
 }
 
diff --git a/context_test.go b/context_test.go
index e1dca3b..6ada8ec 100644
--- a/context_test.go
+++ b/context_test.go
@@ -85,3 +85,77 @@ func TestContext(t *testing.T) {
 	Clear(r)
 	assertEqual(len(data), 0)
 }
+
+func parallelReader(r *http.Request, key string, iterations int, wait, done chan struct{}) {
+	<-wait
+	for i := 0; i < iterations; i++ {
+		Get(r, key)
+	}
+	done <- struct{}{}
+
+}
+
+func parallelWriter(r *http.Request, key, value string, iterations int, wait, done chan struct{}) {
+	<-wait
+	for i := 0; i < iterations; i++ {
+		Get(r, key)
+	}
+	done <- struct{}{}
+
+}
+
+func benchmarkMutex(b *testing.B, numReaders, numWriters, iterations int) {
+
+	b.StopTimer()
+	r, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "http://localhost:8080/", nil)
+	done := make(chan struct{})
+	b.StartTimer()
+
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		wait := make(chan struct{})
+
+		for i := 0; i < numReaders; i++ {
+			go parallelReader(r, "test", iterations, wait, done)
+		}
+
+		for i := 0; i < numWriters; i++ {
+			go parallelWriter(r, "test", "123", iterations, wait, done)
+		}
+
+		close(wait)
+
+		for i := 0; i < numReaders+numWriters; i++ {
+			<-done
+		}
+
+	}
+
+}
+
+func BenchmarkMutexSameReadWrite1(b *testing.B) {
+	benchmarkMutex(b, 1, 1, 32)
+}
+func BenchmarkMutexSameReadWrite2(b *testing.B) {
+	benchmarkMutex(b, 2, 2, 32)
+}
+func BenchmarkMutexSameReadWrite4(b *testing.B) {
+	benchmarkMutex(b, 4, 4, 32)
+}
+func BenchmarkMutex1(b *testing.B) {
+	benchmarkMutex(b, 2, 8, 32)
+}
+func BenchmarkMutex2(b *testing.B) {
+	benchmarkMutex(b, 16, 4, 64)
+}
+func BenchmarkMutex3(b *testing.B) {
+	benchmarkMutex(b, 1, 2, 128)
+}
+func BenchmarkMutex4(b *testing.B) {
+	benchmarkMutex(b, 128, 32, 256)
+}
+func BenchmarkMutex5(b *testing.B) {
+	benchmarkMutex(b, 1024, 2048, 64)
+}
+func BenchmarkMutex6(b *testing.B) {
+	benchmarkMutex(b, 2048, 1024, 512)
+}
diff --git a/doc.go b/doc.go
index 2976064..73c7400 100644
--- a/doc.go
+++ b/doc.go
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 // license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 
 /*
-Package gorilla/context stores values shared during a request lifetime.
+Package context stores values shared during a request lifetime.
 
 For example, a router can set variables extracted from the URL and later
 application handlers can access those values, or it can be used to store