diff --git a/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_fs_subr.c b/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_fs_subr.c
index 36caa6d..5aeb777 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_fs_subr.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_fs_subr.c
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@
 int  fs_nosys(void) { return ENOSYS; }
 void fs_noval(void) { return; }
 
+/*
+ * note: all filemap functions return negative error codes. These
+ * need to be inverted before returning to the xfs core functions.
+ */
 void
 xfs_tosspages(
 	xfs_inode_t	*ip,
@@ -53,7 +57,7 @@
 		if (!ret)
 			truncate_inode_pages(mapping, first);
 	}
-	return ret;
+	return -ret;
 }
 
 int
@@ -72,10 +76,23 @@
 		xfs_iflags_clear(ip, XFS_ITRUNCATED);
 		ret = filemap_fdatawrite(mapping);
 		if (flags & XFS_B_ASYNC)
-			return ret;
+			return -ret;
 		ret2 = filemap_fdatawait(mapping);
 		if (!ret)
 			ret = ret2;
 	}
-	return ret;
+	return -ret;
+}
+
+int
+xfs_wait_on_pages(
+	xfs_inode_t	*ip,
+	xfs_off_t	first,
+	xfs_off_t	last)
+{
+	struct address_space *mapping = VFS_I(ip)->i_mapping;
+
+	if (mapping_tagged(mapping, PAGECACHE_TAG_WRITEBACK))
+		return -filemap_fdatawait(mapping);
+	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_lrw.c b/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_lrw.c
index 1957e535..4959c87 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_lrw.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_lrw.c
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@
 
 	if (unlikely(ioflags & IO_ISDIRECT)) {
 		if (inode->i_mapping->nrpages)
-			ret = xfs_flushinval_pages(ip, (*offset & PAGE_CACHE_MASK),
+			ret = -xfs_flushinval_pages(ip, (*offset & PAGE_CACHE_MASK),
 						    -1, FI_REMAPF_LOCKED);
 		mutex_unlock(&inode->i_mutex);
 		if (ret) {
diff --git a/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_super.c b/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_super.c
index cc5e07e..ae92290 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_super.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_super.c
@@ -990,21 +990,26 @@
 	struct inode		*inode,
 	int			sync)
 {
+	struct xfs_inode	*ip = XFS_I(inode);
 	int			error = 0;
 	int			flags = 0;
 
-	xfs_itrace_entry(XFS_I(inode));
+	xfs_itrace_entry(ip);
 	if (sync) {
-		filemap_fdatawait(inode->i_mapping);
+		error = xfs_wait_on_pages(ip, 0, -1);
+		if (error)
+			goto out_error;
 		flags |= FLUSH_SYNC;
 	}
-	error = xfs_inode_flush(XFS_I(inode), flags);
+	error = xfs_inode_flush(ip, flags);
+
+out_error:
 	/*
 	 * if we failed to write out the inode then mark
 	 * it dirty again so we'll try again later.
 	 */
 	if (error)
-		xfs_mark_inode_dirty_sync(XFS_I(inode));
+		xfs_mark_inode_dirty_sync(ip);
 
 	return -error;
 }
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_vnodeops.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_vnodeops.c
index c055bdb..f26b038 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_vnodeops.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_vnodeops.c
@@ -681,7 +681,7 @@
 		return XFS_ERROR(EIO);
 
 	/* capture size updates in I/O completion before writing the inode. */
-	error = filemap_fdatawait(VFS_I(ip)->i_mapping);
+	error = xfs_wait_on_pages(ip, 0, -1);
 	if (error)
 		return XFS_ERROR(error);
 
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_vnodeops.h b/fs/xfs/xfs_vnodeops.h
index a559400..2a45b00 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_vnodeops.h
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_vnodeops.h
@@ -75,5 +75,6 @@
 		xfs_off_t last, int fiopt);
 int xfs_flush_pages(struct xfs_inode *ip, xfs_off_t first,
 		xfs_off_t last, uint64_t flags, int fiopt);
+int xfs_wait_on_pages(struct xfs_inode *ip, xfs_off_t first, xfs_off_t last);
 
 #endif /* _XFS_VNODEOPS_H */