diff --git a/fs/nfs/delegation.c b/fs/nfs/delegation.c
index cd503cc2251c..2714ef835bdd 100644
--- a/fs/nfs/delegation.c
+++ b/fs/nfs/delegation.c
@@ -900,3 +900,28 @@ bool nfs4_copy_delegation_stateid(nfs4_stateid *dst, struct inode *inode,
 	rcu_read_unlock();
 	return ret;
 }
+
+/**
+ * nfs4_delegation_flush_on_close - Check if we must flush file on close
+ * @inode: inode to check
+ *
+ * This function checks the number of outstanding writes to the file
+ * against the delegation 'space_limit' field to see if
+ * the spec requires us to flush the file on close.
+ */
+bool nfs4_delegation_flush_on_close(const struct inode *inode)
+{
+	struct nfs_inode *nfsi = NFS_I(inode);
+	struct nfs_delegation *delegation;
+	bool ret = true;
+
+	rcu_read_lock();
+	delegation = rcu_dereference(nfsi->delegation);
+	if (delegation == NULL || !(delegation->type & FMODE_WRITE))
+		goto out;
+	if (nfsi->nrequests < delegation->pagemod_limit)
+		ret = false;
+out:
+	rcu_read_unlock();
+	return ret;
+}
diff --git a/fs/nfs/delegation.h b/fs/nfs/delegation.h
index 554178a17376..a44829173e57 100644
--- a/fs/nfs/delegation.h
+++ b/fs/nfs/delegation.h
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ bool nfs4_copy_delegation_stateid(nfs4_stateid *dst, struct inode *inode, fmode_
 void nfs_mark_delegation_referenced(struct nfs_delegation *delegation);
 int nfs4_have_delegation(struct inode *inode, fmode_t flags);
 int nfs4_check_delegation(struct inode *inode, fmode_t flags);
+bool nfs4_delegation_flush_on_close(const struct inode *inode);
 
 #endif
 
diff --git a/fs/nfs/file.c b/fs/nfs/file.c
index 526a2681d975..c0f9b1ed12b9 100644
--- a/fs/nfs/file.c
+++ b/fs/nfs/file.c
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(nfs_file_llseek);
 /*
  * Flush all dirty pages, and check for write errors.
  */
-int
+static int
 nfs_file_flush(struct file *file, fl_owner_t id)
 {
 	struct inode	*inode = file_inode(file);
@@ -153,17 +153,9 @@ nfs_file_flush(struct file *file, fl_owner_t id)
 	if ((file->f_mode & FMODE_WRITE) == 0)
 		return 0;
 
-	/*
-	 * If we're holding a write delegation, then just start the i/o
-	 * but don't wait for completion (or send a commit).
-	 */
-	if (NFS_PROTO(inode)->have_delegation(inode, FMODE_WRITE))
-		return filemap_fdatawrite(file->f_mapping);
-
 	/* Flush writes to the server and return any errors */
 	return vfs_fsync(file, 0);
 }
-EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(nfs_file_flush);
 
 ssize_t
 nfs_file_read(struct kiocb *iocb, struct iov_iter *to)
diff --git a/fs/nfs/internal.h b/fs/nfs/internal.h
index 9ab3b1c21bb4..56cfde26fb9c 100644
--- a/fs/nfs/internal.h
+++ b/fs/nfs/internal.h
@@ -360,7 +360,6 @@ int nfs_rename(struct inode *, struct dentry *, struct inode *, struct dentry *)
 /* file.c */
 int nfs_file_fsync_commit(struct file *, loff_t, loff_t, int);
 loff_t nfs_file_llseek(struct file *, loff_t, int);
-int nfs_file_flush(struct file *, fl_owner_t);
 ssize_t nfs_file_read(struct kiocb *, struct iov_iter *);
 ssize_t nfs_file_splice_read(struct file *, loff_t *, struct pipe_inode_info *,
 			     size_t, unsigned int);
diff --git a/fs/nfs/nfs4file.c b/fs/nfs/nfs4file.c
index 43f1590b9240..b0dbe0abed53 100644
--- a/fs/nfs/nfs4file.c
+++ b/fs/nfs/nfs4file.c
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@
 #include <linux/fs.h>
 #include <linux/falloc.h>
 #include <linux/nfs_fs.h>
+#include "delegation.h"
 #include "internal.h"
+#include "iostat.h"
 #include "fscache.h"
 #include "pnfs.h"
 
@@ -99,6 +101,31 @@ out_drop:
 	goto out_put_ctx;
 }
 
+/*
+ * Flush all dirty pages, and check for write errors.
+ */
+static int
+nfs4_file_flush(struct file *file, fl_owner_t id)
+{
+	struct inode	*inode = file_inode(file);
+
+	dprintk("NFS: flush(%pD2)\n", file);
+
+	nfs_inc_stats(inode, NFSIOS_VFSFLUSH);
+	if ((file->f_mode & FMODE_WRITE) == 0)
+		return 0;
+
+	/*
+	 * If we're holding a write delegation, then check if we're required
+	 * to flush the i/o on close. If not, then just start the i/o now.
+	 */
+	if (!nfs4_delegation_flush_on_close(inode))
+		return filemap_fdatawrite(file->f_mapping);
+
+	/* Flush writes to the server and return any errors */
+	return vfs_fsync(file, 0);
+}
+
 static int
 nfs4_file_fsync(struct file *file, loff_t start, loff_t end, int datasync)
 {
@@ -177,7 +204,7 @@ const struct file_operations nfs4_file_operations = {
 	.write_iter	= nfs_file_write,
 	.mmap		= nfs_file_mmap,
 	.open		= nfs4_file_open,
-	.flush		= nfs_file_flush,
+	.flush		= nfs4_file_flush,
 	.release	= nfs_file_release,
 	.fsync		= nfs4_file_fsync,
 	.lock		= nfs_lock,