diff --git a/fs/ext4/ext4.h b/fs/ext4/ext4.h
index 124ef771a618..60bd31026e7c 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/ext4.h
+++ b/fs/ext4/ext4.h
@@ -1180,6 +1180,7 @@ enum {
 	EXT4_STATE_DA_ALLOC_CLOSE,	/* Alloc DA blks on close */
 	EXT4_STATE_EXT_MIGRATE,		/* Inode is migrating */
 	EXT4_STATE_DIO_UNWRITTEN,	/* need convert on dio done*/
+	EXT4_STATE_NEWENTRY,		/* File just added to dir */
 };
 
 #define EXT4_INODE_BIT_FNS(name, field)					\
diff --git a/fs/ext4/fsync.c b/fs/ext4/fsync.c
index 6ca7b6e59d83..e187f87acec0 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/fsync.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/fsync.c
@@ -34,6 +34,29 @@
 
 #include <trace/events/ext4.h>
 
+/*
+ * If we're not journaling and this is a just-created file, we have to
+ * sync our parent directory (if it was freshly created) since
+ * otherwise it will only be written by writeback, leaving a huge
+ * window during which a crash may lose the file.  This may apply for
+ * the parent directory's parent as well, and so on recursively, if
+ * they are also freshly created.
+ */
+static void ext4_sync_parent(struct inode *inode)
+{
+	struct dentry *dentry = NULL;
+
+	while (inode && ext4_test_inode_state(inode, EXT4_STATE_NEWENTRY)) {
+		ext4_clear_inode_state(inode, EXT4_STATE_NEWENTRY);
+		dentry = list_entry(inode->i_dentry.next,
+				    struct dentry, d_alias);
+		if (!dentry || !dentry->d_parent || !dentry->d_parent->d_inode)
+			break;
+		inode = dentry->d_parent->d_inode;
+		sync_mapping_buffers(inode->i_mapping);
+	}
+}
+
 /*
  * akpm: A new design for ext4_sync_file().
  *
@@ -67,8 +90,12 @@ int ext4_sync_file(struct file *file, struct dentry *dentry, int datasync)
 	if (ret < 0)
 		return ret;
 
-	if (!journal)
-		return simple_fsync(file, dentry, datasync);
+	if (!journal) {
+		ret = simple_fsync(file, dentry, datasync);
+		if (!ret && !list_empty(&inode->i_dentry))
+			ext4_sync_parent(inode);
+		return ret;
+	}
 
 	/*
 	 * data=writeback,ordered:
diff --git a/fs/ext4/namei.c b/fs/ext4/namei.c
index 83be743c8d1f..a43e6617b351 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/namei.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/namei.c
@@ -1517,6 +1517,8 @@ static int ext4_add_entry(handle_t *handle, struct dentry *dentry,
 	de->rec_len = ext4_rec_len_to_disk(blocksize, blocksize);
 	retval = add_dirent_to_buf(handle, dentry, inode, de, bh);
 	brelse(bh);
+	if (retval == 0)
+		ext4_set_inode_state(inode, EXT4_STATE_NEWENTRY);
 	return retval;
 }