diff --git a/fs/ext3/inode.c b/fs/ext3/inode.c
index 74b432fa..36f74f1 100644
--- a/fs/ext3/inode.c
+++ b/fs/ext3/inode.c
@@ -2521,6 +2521,16 @@
 	}
 	if (!buffer_uptodate(bh)) {
 		lock_buffer(bh);
+
+		/*
+		 * If the buffer has the write error flag, we have failed
+		 * to write out another inode in the same block.  In this
+		 * case, we don't have to read the block because we may
+		 * read the old inode data successfully.
+		 */
+		if (buffer_write_io_error(bh) && !buffer_uptodate(bh))
+			set_buffer_uptodate(bh);
+
 		if (buffer_uptodate(bh)) {
 			/* someone brought it uptodate while we waited */
 			unlock_buffer(bh);