diff --git a/doc/conky.1 b/doc/conky.1
index c392759b..a4725766 100644
--- a/doc/conky.1
+++ b/doc/conky.1
@@ -643,6 +643,10 @@ Displays current disk IO for writes. Device as in diskio.
 \fB\*(T<\fBdiskiograph_write\fR\*(T>\fR \*(T<\fB(device) (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradient colour 2) (scale)\fR\*(T> 
 Disk IO graph for writes, colours defined in hex, minus the #. If scale is non-zero, it becomes the scale for the graph. Device as in diskio.
 
+.TP 
+\fB\*(T<\fBdisk_protect\fR\*(T>\fR \*(T<\fBdevice\fR\*(T> 
+Disk protection status, if supported (needs kernel-patch). Prints either "frozen" or "free  " (note the padding).
+
 .TP 
 \fB\*(T<\fBdownspeed\fR\*(T>\fR \*(T<\fBnet\fR\*(T> 
 Download speed in kilobytes
diff --git a/doc/variables.xml b/doc/variables.xml
index 7499ccf8..74674665 100644
--- a/doc/variables.xml
+++ b/doc/variables.xml
@@ -572,6 +572,17 @@
 
 <varlistentry>
 	<term>
+		<command><option>disk_protect</option></command>
+		<option>device</option>
+	</term>
+	<listitem>
+		Disk protection status, if supported (needs kernel-patch). Prints either "frozen" or "free  " (note the padding).
+		<para></para></listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+
+<varlistentry>
+  <term>
+
 		<command><option>downspeed</option></command>
 	<option>net</option>
 	</term>
diff --git a/src/conky.c b/src/conky.c
index d31ab44c..65eccab3 100644
--- a/src/conky.c
+++ b/src/conky.c
@@ -1128,6 +1128,7 @@ enum text_object_type {
 	OBJ_platform,
 	OBJ_hwmon,
 #if defined(__linux__)
+	OBJ_disk_protect,
 	OBJ_i8k_version,
 	OBJ_i8k_bios,
 	OBJ_i8k_serial,
@@ -2049,6 +2050,9 @@ static void free_text_objects(unsigned int count, struct text_object *objs)
 				break;
 #endif
 #ifdef __LINUX__
+			case OBJ_disk_protect:
+				free(objs[i].data.s);
+				break;
 			case OBJ_if_up:
 				free(objs[i].data.ifblock.s);
 				free(objs[i].data.ifblock.str);
@@ -2443,6 +2447,11 @@ static struct text_object *construct_text_object(const char *s,
 #endif /* !__OpenBSD__ */
 
 #if defined(__linux__)
+	END OBJ(disk_protect, 0)
+		if (arg)
+			obj->data.s = strdup(arg);
+		else
+			CRIT_ERR("disk_protect needs an argument");
 	END OBJ(i8k_version, INFO_I8K)
 	END OBJ(i8k_bios, INFO_I8K)
 	END OBJ(i8k_serial, INFO_I8K)
@@ -4342,6 +4351,10 @@ static void generate_text_internal(char *p, int p_max_size,
 				snprintf(p, p_max_size, "%s", BUILD_ARCH);
 			}
 #if defined(__linux__)
+			OBJ(disk_protect) {
+				snprintf(p, p_max_size, "%s",
+					get_disk_protect_queue(obj->data.s));
+			}
 			OBJ(i8k_version) {
 				snprintf(p, p_max_size, "%s", i8k.version);
 			}
diff --git a/src/conky.h b/src/conky.h
index 08b0bbad..6ccae9e6 100644
--- a/src/conky.h
+++ b/src/conky.h
@@ -584,6 +584,7 @@ void get_ibm_acpi_fan(char *buf, size_t client_buffer_size);
 void get_ibm_acpi_temps(void);
 void get_ibm_acpi_volume(char *buf, size_t client_buffer_size);
 void get_ibm_acpi_brightness(char *buf, size_t client_buffer_size);
+char *get_disk_protect_queue(char *disk);
 void get_cpu_count();
 
 struct ibm_acpi_struct {
diff --git a/src/linux.c b/src/linux.c
index d4a5860d..d1bd1ba6 100644
--- a/src/linux.c
+++ b/src/linux.c
@@ -2416,3 +2416,21 @@ void update_entropy(void)
 
 	info.mask |= (1 << INFO_ENTROPY);
 }
+
+char *get_disk_protect_queue(char *disk)
+{
+  FILE *fp;
+  char path[128];
+  int state;
+
+  snprintf(path, 127, "/sys/block/%s/queue/protect", disk);
+  if ((fp = fopen(path, "r")) == NULL)
+     return "n/a   ";
+  if (fscanf(fp, "%d\n", &state) != 1) {
+     fclose(fp);
+     return "failed";
+  }
+  fclose(fp);
+  return state ? "frozen" : "free  ";
+}
+