diff --git a/cmake/Modules/ArrowExternalProject.cmake b/cmake/Modules/ArrowExternalProject.cmake
index 3e19dfbd2..2add25a94 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/ArrowExternalProject.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/ArrowExternalProject.cmake
@@ -15,10 +15,10 @@
 #  - PLASMA_SHARED_LIB
 
 set(arrow_URL https://github.com/apache/arrow.git)
-# The PR for this commit is https://github.com/apache/arrow/pull/3093. We
+# The PR for this commit is https://github.com/apache/arrow/pull/3117. We
 # include the link here to make it easier to find the right commit because
 # Arrow often rewrites git history and invalidates certain commits.
-set(arrow_TAG 187b98ed338d4995317dae9efd19870c532192cb)
+set(arrow_TAG 4d810b4a9c37e79fde6b134ac90ee0c5f7f6c9bf)
 
 set(ARROW_INSTALL_PREFIX ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/external/arrow-install)
 set(ARROW_HOME ${ARROW_INSTALL_PREFIX})
diff --git a/doc/requirements-doc.txt b/doc/requirements-doc.txt
index f598baa08..7fa230d2e 100644
--- a/doc/requirements-doc.txt
+++ b/doc/requirements-doc.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 colorama
 click
+filelock
 flatbuffers
 funcsigs
 mock
diff --git a/python/ray/experimental/sgd/sgd_worker.py b/python/ray/experimental/sgd/sgd_worker.py
index 0d4b45c7c..0811d905e 100644
--- a/python/ray/experimental/sgd/sgd_worker.py
+++ b/python/ray/experimental/sgd/sgd_worker.py
@@ -9,9 +9,10 @@ import pyarrow.plasma as plasma
 import tensorflow as tf
 
 import ray
-from ray.experimental.sgd.util import fetch, run_timeline, warmup
-from ray.experimental.sgd.modified_allreduce import sum_gradients_all_reduce, \
-    unpack_small_tensors
+from ray.experimental.sgd.util import (ensure_plasma_tensorflow_op, fetch,
+                                       run_timeline, warmup)
+from ray.experimental.sgd.modified_allreduce import (sum_gradients_all_reduce,
+                                                     unpack_small_tensors)
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -112,8 +113,7 @@ class SGDWorker(object):
                 ray.worker.global_worker.plasma_client.store_socket_name)
             manager_socket = (
                 ray.worker.global_worker.plasma_client.manager_socket_name)
-            if not plasma.tf_plasma_op:
-                plasma.build_plasma_tensorflow_op()
+            ensure_plasma_tensorflow_op()
 
             # For fetching grads -> plasma
             self.plasma_in_grads = []
diff --git a/python/ray/experimental/sgd/util.py b/python/ray/experimental/sgd/util.py
index c8df01cb3..d8cc2d8f0 100644
--- a/python/ray/experimental/sgd/util.py
+++ b/python/ray/experimental/sgd/util.py
@@ -2,10 +2,13 @@ from __future__ import absolute_import
 from __future__ import division
 from __future__ import print_function
 
+import filelock
 import json
 import logging
 import numpy as np
 import os
+import pyarrow
+import pyarrow.plasma as plasma
 import time
 import tensorflow as tf
 
@@ -120,6 +123,16 @@ class Timeline(object):
         logger.info("Wrote chrome timeline to", filename)
 
 
+def ensure_plasma_tensorflow_op():
+    base_path = os.path.join(pyarrow.__path__[0], "tensorflow")
+    lock_path = os.path.join(base_path, "compile_op.lock")
+    with filelock.FileLock(lock_path):
+        if not os.path.exists(os.path.join(base_path, "plasma_op.so")):
+            plasma.build_plasma_tensorflow_op()
+        else:
+            plasma.load_plasma_tensorflow_op()
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     a = Timeline(1)
     b = Timeline(2)
diff --git a/python/setup.py b/python/setup.py
index c92ffa65b..680182536 100644
--- a/python/setup.py
+++ b/python/setup.py
@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@ def find_version(*filepath):
 
 requires = [
     "numpy",
+    "filelock",
     "funcsigs",
     "click",
     "colorama",