diff --git a/src/Gitolite/Conf/Load.pm b/src/Gitolite/Conf/Load.pm
index f89919f..28819ff 100644
--- a/src/Gitolite/Conf/Load.pm
+++ b/src/Gitolite/Conf/Load.pm
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ package Gitolite::Conf::Load;
 
   option
   repo_missing
-  check_repo_write_enabled
   creator
 
   vrefs
@@ -162,15 +161,6 @@ sub repo_missing {
     return not -d "$rc{GL_REPO_BASE}/$repo.git";
 }
 
-sub check_repo_write_enabled {
-    my ($repo) = shift;
-    for my $f ("$ENV{HOME}/.gitolite.down", "$rc{GL_REPO_BASE}/$repo.git/.gitolite.down") {
-        next unless -f $f;
-        _die slurp($f) if -s $f;
-        _die "sorry, writes are currently disabled (no more info available)";
-    }
-}
-
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 sub load_common {
diff --git a/src/Gitolite/Rc.pm b/src/Gitolite/Rc.pm
index 9f563cb..06420d9 100644
--- a/src/Gitolite/Rc.pm
+++ b/src/Gitolite/Rc.pm
@@ -71,6 +71,9 @@ if ( defined($GL_ADMINDIR) ) {
 # add internal triggers
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+# is the server/repo in a writable state (i.e., not down for maintenance etc)
+unshift @{ $rc{ACCESS_1} }, 'Writable::writable';
+
 # (testing only) override the rc file silently
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 # use an env var that is highly unlikely to appear in real life :)
@@ -174,13 +177,20 @@ sub trigger {
             _die "$rc_section section in rc file is not a perl list";
         } else {
             for my $s ( @{ $rc{$rc_section} } ) {
-
                 my ($pgm, @args) = split ' ', $s;
-                $pgm = "$ENV{GL_BINDIR}/triggers/$pgm";
 
-                _warn("skipped command '$s'"), next if not -x $pgm;
-                trace( 2, "command: $s" );
-                _system( $pgm, @args, $rc_section, @_ );    # they better all return with 0 exit codes!
+                if ( my($module, $sub) = ($pgm =~ /^(.*)::(\w+)$/ ) ) {
+
+                    require Gitolite::Triggers;
+                    Gitolite::Triggers::run($module, $sub, @args, $rc_section, @_);
+
+                } else {
+                    $pgm = "$ENV{GL_BINDIR}/triggers/$pgm";
+
+                    _warn("skipped command '$s'"), next if not -x $pgm;
+                    trace( 2, "command: $s" );
+                    _system( $pgm, @args, $rc_section, @_ );    # they better all return with 0 exit codes!
+                }
             }
         }
         return;
diff --git a/src/Gitolite/Triggers.pm b/src/Gitolite/Triggers.pm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..15c2cdf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Gitolite/Triggers.pm
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+package Gitolite::Triggers;
+
+# load and run triggered modules
+# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+#<<<
+@EXPORT = qw(
+);
+#>>>
+use Exporter 'import';
+
+use Gitolite::Rc;
+use Gitolite::Common;
+
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+
+# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+sub run {
+    my ($module, $sub, @args) = @_;
+    $module = "Gitolite::Triggers::$module" if $module !~ /^Gitolite::/;
+
+    eval "require $module";
+    my $subref;
+    eval "\$subref = \\\&$module" . "::" . "$sub";
+    _die "module '$module' does not exist or does not have sub '$sub'" unless ref($subref) eq 'CODE';
+
+    $subref->(@args);
+}
+
+1;
diff --git a/src/Gitolite/Triggers/Writable.pm b/src/Gitolite/Triggers/Writable.pm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b6a1e6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Gitolite/Triggers/Writable.pm
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+package Gitolite::Triggers::Writable;
+
+use Gitolite::Rc;
+use Gitolite::Common;
+
+sub writable {
+    my ($repo, $aa, $result) = @_[1, 3, 5];
+    return if $aa eq 'R' or $result =~ /DENIED/;
+
+    for my $f ("$ENV{HOME}/.gitolite.down", "$rc{GL_REPO_BASE}/$repo.git/.gitolite.down") {
+        next unless -f $f;
+        _die slurp($f) if -s $f;
+        _die "sorry, writes are currently disabled (no more info available)\n";
+    }
+}
+
+1;
diff --git a/src/gitolite-shell b/src/gitolite-shell
index 2a57e2d..1706c48 100755
--- a/src/gitolite-shell
+++ b/src/gitolite-shell
@@ -94,7 +94,6 @@ sub main {
     trigger( 'ACCESS_1', $repo, $user, $aa, 'any', $ret );
     _die $ret . "\n(or you mis-spelled the reponame)" if $ret =~ /DENIED/;
 
-    check_repo_write_enabled($repo) if $aa eq 'W';
     trigger( 'PRE_GIT', $repo, $user, $aa, 'any', $verb );
     my $repodir = "'$rc{GL_REPO_BASE}/$repo.git'";
     _system( "git", "shell", "-c", "$verb $repodir" );