RMAIL file locking problem?

[Evil Boris]

I use rmail to read mail.  I noticed that starting sometime after the
summer, rmail would lock the mail file (i.e., ~/RMAIL) even if it did
not _seem_ modified (I have no way of knowing if it actually is
modified).

More precisely, here's the behavior I observe: I type "s" in rmail.
It saves the file.  I do it again.  It says "no changes need to be
saved".  I check that ~/RMAIL is not locked.  Some time later, __with
no actions on my part__, I notice that ~/RMAIL is locked (i.e., the
~/.#RMAIL symbolic link appears).  If I go back to Emacs and type "s"
in rmail, it says "no changes need to be saved"!  I can __force__ a
save by typing "t" and "t".  But that's silly, of course...

Versions: current CVS, updated reasonably frequently.  Sun/Solaris
2.7.  Noticed this sometime after last summer.

Why it bothers me: I often have several copies of Emacs running
simultaneously, one on the X display at work, one on ssh/terminal from
home or in screen/terminal.  I switch between the two and would like
to be able to read mail in both (not concurrently, of course).  Rmail
locking the files makes me have to jump through hoops to get one copy
to unlock the file so I can use it from the other.

Any and all ideas would be appreciated.  I tried this with "emacs -Q"
and seemed to do the same, btw.

    --Boris