diff --git a/src/jniutils.hh b/src/jniutils.hh
index 50e3305..a523f65 100644
--- a/src/jniutils.hh
+++ b/src/jniutils.hh
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ namespace pEp {
         using namespace std;
 
         class mutex {
-            pthread_mutex_t _mutex;
+            typedef pthread_mutex_t native_handle_type;
+            native_handle_type _mutex;
 
         public:
             mutex() {
@@ -31,6 +32,12 @@ namespace pEp {
             void unlock() {
                 pthread_mutex_unlock(&_mutex);
             }
+            native_handle_type native_handle() {
+                return _mutex;
+            }
+            bool try_lock() {
+                return pthread_mutex_trylock(&_mutex) == 0;
+            }
         };
 
         template<class T> class lock_guard {