diff --git a/fs/btrfs/async-thread.c b/fs/btrfs/async-thread.c
index f2e80f3..c84ca1f 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/async-thread.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/async-thread.c
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@
 #include <linux/kthread.h>
 #include <linux/list.h>
 #include <linux/spinlock.h>
-# include <linux/freezer.h>
+#include <linux/freezer.h>
+#include <linux/ftrace.h>
 #include "async-thread.h"
 
 #define WORK_QUEUED_BIT 0
@@ -142,6 +143,7 @@
 	struct btrfs_work *work;
 	do {
 		spin_lock_irq(&worker->lock);
+again_locked:
 		while (!list_empty(&worker->pending)) {
 			cur = worker->pending.next;
 			work = list_entry(cur, struct btrfs_work, list);
@@ -164,14 +166,50 @@
 			check_idle_worker(worker);
 
 		}
-		worker->working = 0;
 		if (freezing(current)) {
+			worker->working = 0;
+			spin_unlock_irq(&worker->lock);
 			refrigerator();
 		} else {
-			set_current_state(TASK_INTERRUPTIBLE);
 			spin_unlock_irq(&worker->lock);
-			if (!kthread_should_stop())
+			if (!kthread_should_stop()) {
+				cpu_relax();
+				/*
+				 * we've dropped the lock, did someone else
+				 * jump_in?
+				 */
+				smp_mb();
+				if (!list_empty(&worker->pending))
+					continue;
+
+				/*
+				 * this short schedule allows more work to
+				 * come in without the queue functions
+				 * needing to go through wake_up_process()
+				 *
+				 * worker->working is still 1, so nobody
+				 * is going to try and wake us up
+				 */
+				schedule_timeout(1);
+				smp_mb();
+				if (!list_empty(&worker->pending))
+					continue;
+
+				/* still no more work?, sleep for real */
+				spin_lock_irq(&worker->lock);
+				set_current_state(TASK_INTERRUPTIBLE);
+				if (!list_empty(&worker->pending))
+					goto again_locked;
+
+				/*
+				 * this makes sure we get a wakeup when someone
+				 * adds something new to the queue
+				 */
+				worker->working = 0;
+				spin_unlock_irq(&worker->lock);
+
 				schedule();
+			}
 			__set_current_state(TASK_RUNNING);
 		}
 	} while (!kthread_should_stop());
@@ -355,8 +393,8 @@
 		goto out;
 
 	spin_lock_irqsave(&worker->lock, flags);
-	atomic_inc(&worker->num_pending);
 	list_add_tail(&work->list, &worker->pending);
+	atomic_inc(&worker->num_pending);
 
 	/* by definition we're busy, take ourselves off the idle
 	 * list
@@ -405,9 +443,9 @@
 
 	spin_lock_irqsave(&worker->lock, flags);
 
+	list_add_tail(&work->list, &worker->pending);
 	atomic_inc(&worker->num_pending);
 	check_busy_worker(worker);
-	list_add_tail(&work->list, &worker->pending);
 
 	/*
 	 * avoid calling into wake_up_process if this thread has already