diff --git a/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_buf.c b/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_buf.c
index b2b411985591..d1fe74506c4c 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_buf.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/linux-2.6/xfs_buf.c
@@ -1224,6 +1224,9 @@ _xfs_buf_ioapply(
 		rw = READ;
 	}
 
+	/* we only use the buffer cache for meta-data */
+	rw |= REQ_META;
+
 next_chunk:
 	atomic_inc(&bp->b_io_remaining);
 	nr_pages = BIO_MAX_SECTORS >> (PAGE_SHIFT - BBSHIFT);