[mod_python] httpd dead but subsys locked

situation:
mod_python, RH 6.2, MySQL-3.23.38-1 all RPM based.

When starting up httpd and running httpd status it returns:
httpd dead but subsys locked

No instance of httpd is found running.

When removing the two mod_python dso lines in the httpd.conf it starts up 
fine.

I have seen these errors on some php mailing lists as well where people seem 
to be relating it to the presence of mysql. There is nothign in the apache 
log file even at debug log level.

A restart of mysql did not help.

I have read that the situation in case of php will be resolved with a server 
reboot. However in this case that would be impractical.

Have any of you experienced this problem and have you found a solution?

Thanks.