diff --git a/fs/ext4/balloc.c b/fs/ext4/balloc.c
index f9e2cd8cf711..a2cff2b9d5b5 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/balloc.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/balloc.c
@@ -336,10 +336,10 @@ err_out:
  * Return buffer_head on success or NULL in case of failure.
  */
 struct buffer_head *
-ext4_read_block_bitmap(struct super_block *sb, ext4_group_t block_group)
+ext4_read_block_bitmap_nowait(struct super_block *sb, ext4_group_t block_group)
 {
 	struct ext4_group_desc *desc;
-	struct buffer_head *bh = NULL;
+	struct buffer_head *bh;
 	ext4_fsblk_t bitmap_blk;
 
 	desc = ext4_get_group_desc(sb, block_group, NULL);
@@ -348,9 +348,9 @@ ext4_read_block_bitmap(struct super_block *sb, ext4_group_t block_group)
 	bitmap_blk = ext4_block_bitmap(sb, desc);
 	bh = sb_getblk(sb, bitmap_blk);
 	if (unlikely(!bh)) {
-		ext4_error(sb, "Cannot read block bitmap - "
-			    "block_group = %u, block_bitmap = %llu",
-			    block_group, bitmap_blk);
+		ext4_error(sb, "Cannot get buffer for block bitmap - "
+			   "block_group = %u, block_bitmap = %llu",
+			   block_group, bitmap_blk);
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
@@ -382,25 +382,50 @@ ext4_read_block_bitmap(struct super_block *sb, ext4_group_t block_group)
 		return bh;
 	}
 	/*
-	 * submit the buffer_head for read. We can
-	 * safely mark the bitmap as uptodate now.
-	 * We do it here so the bitmap uptodate bit
-	 * get set with buffer lock held.
+	 * submit the buffer_head for reading
 	 */
+	set_buffer_new(bh);
 	trace_ext4_read_block_bitmap_load(sb, block_group);
-	set_bitmap_uptodate(bh);
-	if (bh_submit_read(bh) < 0) {
-		put_bh(bh);
+	bh->b_end_io = ext4_end_bitmap_read;
+	get_bh(bh);
+	submit_bh(READ, bh);
+	return bh;
+}
+
+/* Returns 0 on success, 1 on error */
+int ext4_wait_block_bitmap(struct super_block *sb, ext4_group_t block_group,
+			   struct buffer_head *bh)
+{
+	struct ext4_group_desc *desc;
+
+	if (!buffer_new(bh))
+		return 0;
+	desc = ext4_get_group_desc(sb, block_group, NULL);
+	if (!desc)
+		return 1;
+	wait_on_buffer(bh);
+	if (!buffer_uptodate(bh)) {
 		ext4_error(sb, "Cannot read block bitmap - "
-			    "block_group = %u, block_bitmap = %llu",
-			    block_group, bitmap_blk);
+			   "block_group = %u, block_bitmap = %llu",
+			   block_group, bh->b_blocknr);
+		return 1;
+	}
+	clear_buffer_new(bh);
+	/* Panic or remount fs read-only if block bitmap is invalid */
+	ext4_valid_block_bitmap(sb, desc, block_group, bh);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+struct buffer_head *
+ext4_read_block_bitmap(struct super_block *sb, ext4_group_t block_group)
+{
+	struct buffer_head *bh;
+
+	bh = ext4_read_block_bitmap_nowait(sb, block_group);
+	if (ext4_wait_block_bitmap(sb, block_group, bh)) {
+		put_bh(bh);
 		return NULL;
 	}
-	ext4_valid_block_bitmap(sb, desc, block_group, bh);
-	/*
-	 * file system mounted not to panic on error,
-	 * continue with corrupt bitmap
-	 */
 	return bh;
 }
 
diff --git a/fs/ext4/ext4.h b/fs/ext4/ext4.h
index 513004fc3d84..315f01be73e6 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/ext4.h
+++ b/fs/ext4/ext4.h
@@ -1794,8 +1794,14 @@ extern struct ext4_group_desc * ext4_get_group_desc(struct super_block * sb,
 						    ext4_group_t block_group,
 						    struct buffer_head ** bh);
 extern int ext4_should_retry_alloc(struct super_block *sb, int *retries);
-struct buffer_head *ext4_read_block_bitmap(struct super_block *sb,
-				      ext4_group_t block_group);
+
+extern struct buffer_head *ext4_read_block_bitmap_nowait(struct super_block *sb,
+						ext4_group_t block_group);
+extern int ext4_wait_block_bitmap(struct super_block *sb,
+				  ext4_group_t block_group,
+				  struct buffer_head *bh);
+extern struct buffer_head *ext4_read_block_bitmap(struct super_block *sb,
+						  ext4_group_t block_group);
 extern void ext4_init_block_bitmap(struct super_block *sb,
 				   struct buffer_head *bh,
 				   ext4_group_t group,
@@ -1841,6 +1847,7 @@ extern void ext4_check_inodes_bitmap(struct super_block *);
 extern void ext4_mark_bitmap_end(int start_bit, int end_bit, char *bitmap);
 extern int ext4_init_inode_table(struct super_block *sb,
 				 ext4_group_t group, int barrier);
+extern void ext4_end_bitmap_read(struct buffer_head *bh, int uptodate);
 
 /* mballoc.c */
 extern long ext4_mb_stats;
diff --git a/fs/ext4/ialloc.c b/fs/ext4/ialloc.c
index 84e6e9a3986b..b2685992fb2d 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/ialloc.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/ialloc.c
@@ -92,6 +92,16 @@ static unsigned ext4_init_inode_bitmap(struct super_block *sb,
 	return EXT4_INODES_PER_GROUP(sb);
 }
 
+void ext4_end_bitmap_read(struct buffer_head *bh, int uptodate)
+{
+	if (uptodate) {
+		set_buffer_uptodate(bh);
+		set_bitmap_uptodate(bh);
+	}
+	unlock_buffer(bh);
+	put_bh(bh);
+}
+
 /*
  * Read the inode allocation bitmap for a given block_group, reading
  * into the specified slot in the superblock's bitmap cache.
@@ -147,18 +157,18 @@ ext4_read_inode_bitmap(struct super_block *sb, ext4_group_t block_group)
 		return bh;
 	}
 	/*
-	 * submit the buffer_head for read. We can
-	 * safely mark the bitmap as uptodate now.
-	 * We do it here so the bitmap uptodate bit
-	 * get set with buffer lock held.
+	 * submit the buffer_head for reading
 	 */
 	trace_ext4_load_inode_bitmap(sb, block_group);
-	set_bitmap_uptodate(bh);
-	if (bh_submit_read(bh) < 0) {
+	bh->b_end_io = ext4_end_bitmap_read;
+	get_bh(bh);
+	submit_bh(READ, bh);
+	wait_on_buffer(bh);
+	if (!buffer_uptodate(bh)) {
 		put_bh(bh);
 		ext4_error(sb, "Cannot read inode bitmap - "
-			    "block_group = %u, inode_bitmap = %llu",
-			    block_group, bitmap_blk);
+			   "block_group = %u, inode_bitmap = %llu",
+			   block_group, bitmap_blk);
 		return NULL;
 	}
 	return bh;
diff --git a/fs/ext4/mballoc.c b/fs/ext4/mballoc.c
index cb990b21c698..545fa0256606 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/mballoc.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/mballoc.c
@@ -782,7 +782,7 @@ static int ext4_mb_init_cache(struct page *page, char *incore)
 	int groups_per_page;
 	int err = 0;
 	int i;
-	ext4_group_t first_group;
+	ext4_group_t first_group, group;
 	int first_block;
 	struct super_block *sb;
 	struct buffer_head *bhs;
@@ -806,24 +806,23 @@ static int ext4_mb_init_cache(struct page *page, char *incore)
 
 	/* allocate buffer_heads to read bitmaps */
 	if (groups_per_page > 1) {
-		err = -ENOMEM;
 		i = sizeof(struct buffer_head *) * groups_per_page;
 		bh = kzalloc(i, GFP_NOFS);
-		if (bh == NULL)
+		if (bh == NULL) {
+			err = -ENOMEM;
 			goto out;
+		}
 	} else
 		bh = &bhs;
 
 	first_group = page->index * blocks_per_page / 2;
 
 	/* read all groups the page covers into the cache */
-	for (i = 0; i < groups_per_page; i++) {
-		struct ext4_group_desc *desc;
-
-		if (first_group + i >= ngroups)
+	for (i = 0, group = first_group; i < groups_per_page; i++, group++) {
+		if (group >= ngroups)
 			break;
 
-		grinfo = ext4_get_group_info(sb, first_group + i);
+		grinfo = ext4_get_group_info(sb, group);
 		/*
 		 * If page is uptodate then we came here after online resize
 		 * which added some new uninitialized group info structs, so
@@ -834,69 +833,21 @@ static int ext4_mb_init_cache(struct page *page, char *incore)
 			bh[i] = NULL;
 			continue;
 		}
-
-		err = -EIO;
-		desc = ext4_get_group_desc(sb, first_group + i, NULL);
-		if (desc == NULL)
+		if (!(bh[i] = ext4_read_block_bitmap_nowait(sb, group))) {
+			err = -ENOMEM;
 			goto out;
-
-		err = -ENOMEM;
-		bh[i] = sb_getblk(sb, ext4_block_bitmap(sb, desc));
-		if (bh[i] == NULL)
-			goto out;
-
-		if (bitmap_uptodate(bh[i]))
-			continue;
-
-		lock_buffer(bh[i]);
-		if (bitmap_uptodate(bh[i])) {
-			unlock_buffer(bh[i]);
-			continue;
 		}
-		ext4_lock_group(sb, first_group + i);
-		if (desc->bg_flags & cpu_to_le16(EXT4_BG_BLOCK_UNINIT)) {
-			ext4_init_block_bitmap(sb, bh[i],
-						first_group + i, desc);
-			set_bitmap_uptodate(bh[i]);
-			set_buffer_uptodate(bh[i]);
-			ext4_unlock_group(sb, first_group + i);
-			unlock_buffer(bh[i]);
-			continue;
-		}
-		ext4_unlock_group(sb, first_group + i);
-		if (buffer_uptodate(bh[i])) {
-			/*
-			 * if not uninit if bh is uptodate,
-			 * bitmap is also uptodate
-			 */
-			set_bitmap_uptodate(bh[i]);
-			unlock_buffer(bh[i]);
-			continue;
-		}
-		get_bh(bh[i]);
-		/*
-		 * submit the buffer_head for read. We can
-		 * safely mark the bitmap as uptodate now.
-		 * We do it here so the bitmap uptodate bit
-		 * get set with buffer lock held.
-		 */
-		set_bitmap_uptodate(bh[i]);
-		bh[i]->b_end_io = end_buffer_read_sync;
-		submit_bh(READ, bh[i]);
-		mb_debug(1, "read bitmap for group %u\n", first_group + i);
+		mb_debug(1, "read bitmap for group %u\n", group);
 	}
 
 	/* wait for I/O completion */
-	for (i = 0; i < groups_per_page; i++)
-		if (bh[i])
-			wait_on_buffer(bh[i]);
-
-	err = -EIO;
-	for (i = 0; i < groups_per_page; i++)
-		if (bh[i] && !buffer_uptodate(bh[i]))
+	for (i = 0, group = first_group; i < groups_per_page; i++, group++) {
+		if (bh[i] && ext4_wait_block_bitmap(sb, group, bh[i])) {
+			err = -EIO;
 			goto out;
+		}
+	}
 
-	err = 0;
 	first_block = page->index * blocks_per_page;
 	for (i = 0; i < blocks_per_page; i++) {
 		int group;