diff --git a/fs/btrfs/transaction.c b/fs/btrfs/transaction.c
index e72a013..202c1b6 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/transaction.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/transaction.c
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 #include <linux/sched.h>
 #include <linux/writeback.h>
 #include <linux/pagemap.h>
+#include <linux/blkdev.h>
 #include "ctree.h"
 #include "disk-io.h"
 #include "transaction.h"
@@ -331,6 +332,7 @@
 	int werr = 0;
 	struct page *page;
 	struct inode *btree_inode = root->fs_info->btree_inode;
+	struct extent_io_tree *io_tree = &BTRFS_I(btree_inode)->io_tree;
 	u64 start = 0;
 	u64 end;
 	unsigned long index;
@@ -371,6 +373,11 @@
 			page_cache_release(page);
 		}
 	}
+	/*
+	 * we unplug once and then use the wait_on_extent_bit for
+	 * everything else
+	 */
+	blk_run_address_space(btree_inode->i_mapping);
 	while(1) {
 		ret = find_first_extent_bit(dirty_pages, 0, &start, &end,
 					    EXTENT_DIRTY);
@@ -391,7 +398,28 @@
 				if (err)
 					werr = err;
 			}
-			wait_on_page_writeback(page);
+			if (PageWriteback(page)) {
+				/*
+				 * we don't wait on the page writeback bit
+				 * because that triggers a lot of unplugs.
+				 * The extent bits are much nicer to
+				 * the disks, but come with a slightly
+				 * higher latency because we aren't forcing
+				 * unplugs.
+				 */
+				wait_on_extent_writeback(io_tree,
+					 page_offset(page),
+					 page_offset(page) +
+					 PAGE_CACHE_SIZE - 1);
+			}
+			if (PageWriteback(page)) {
+				/*
+				 * the state bits get cleared before the
+				 * page bits, lets add some extra
+				 * paranoia here
+				 */
+				wait_on_page_writeback(page);
+			}
 			page_cache_release(page);
 			cond_resched();
 		}
diff --git a/fs/btrfs/volumes.c b/fs/btrfs/volumes.c
index cbb9bb3..80a2728 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/volumes.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/volumes.c
@@ -200,7 +200,8 @@
 		 * is now congested.  Back off and let other work structs
 		 * run instead
 		 */
-		if (pending && bdi_write_congested(bdi)) {
+		if (pending && bdi_write_congested(bdi) &&
+		    fs_info->fs_devices->open_devices > 1) {
 			struct bio *old_head;
 
 			spin_lock(&device->io_lock);