diff --git a/fs/btrfs/ctree.h b/fs/btrfs/ctree.h
index 117090995e7c..caa860a1c3e5 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/ctree.h
+++ b/fs/btrfs/ctree.h
@@ -544,6 +544,7 @@ struct btrfs_space_info {
 	/* for block groups in our same type */
 	struct list_head block_groups;
 	spinlock_t lock;
+	struct rw_semaphore groups_sem;
 };
 
 struct btrfs_free_space {
diff --git a/fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c b/fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c
index 56e41369d713..e3b3e13a4817 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c
@@ -317,59 +317,6 @@ struct btrfs_block_group_cache *btrfs_lookup_block_group(struct
 	return cache;
 }
 
-static int noinline find_free_space(struct btrfs_root *root,
-				    struct btrfs_block_group_cache **cache_ret,
-				    u64 *start_ret, u64 num, int data)
-{
-	int ret;
-	struct btrfs_block_group_cache *cache = *cache_ret;
-	struct btrfs_free_space *info = NULL;
-	u64 last;
-	u64 search_start = *start_ret;
-
-	WARN_ON(!mutex_is_locked(&root->fs_info->alloc_mutex));
-	if (!cache)
-		goto out;
-
-	last = max(search_start, cache->key.objectid);
-
-again:
-	ret = cache_block_group(root, cache);
-	if (ret)
-		goto out;
-
-	if (cache->ro || !block_group_bits(cache, data))
-		goto new_group;
-
-	info = btrfs_find_free_space(cache, last, num);
-	if (info) {
-		*start_ret = info->offset;
-		return 0;
-	}
-
-new_group:
-	last = cache->key.objectid + cache->key.offset;
-
-	cache = btrfs_lookup_first_block_group(root->fs_info, last);
-	if (!cache)
-		goto out;
-
-	*cache_ret = cache;
-	goto again;
-
-out:
-	return -ENOSPC;
-}
-
-static u64 div_factor(u64 num, int factor)
-{
-	if (factor == 10)
-		return num;
-	num *= factor;
-	do_div(num, 10);
-	return num;
-}
-
 static struct btrfs_space_info *__find_space_info(struct btrfs_fs_info *info,
 						  u64 flags)
 {
@@ -384,6 +331,15 @@ static struct btrfs_space_info *__find_space_info(struct btrfs_fs_info *info,
 	return NULL;
 }
 
+static u64 div_factor(u64 num, int factor)
+{
+	if (factor == 10)
+		return num;
+	num *= factor;
+	do_div(num, 10);
+	return num;
+}
+
 static struct btrfs_block_group_cache *
 __btrfs_find_block_group(struct btrfs_root *root,
 			 struct btrfs_block_group_cache *hint,
@@ -1446,6 +1402,7 @@ static int update_space_info(struct btrfs_fs_info *info, u64 flags,
 
 	list_add(&found->list, &info->space_info);
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&found->block_groups);
+	init_rwsem(&found->groups_sem);
 	spin_lock_init(&found->lock);
 	found->flags = flags;
 	found->total_bytes = total_bytes;
@@ -2208,19 +2165,22 @@ static int noinline find_free_extent(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans,
 				     u64 exclude_start, u64 exclude_nr,
 				     int data)
 {
-	int ret;
-	u64 orig_search_start;
+	int ret = 0;
 	struct btrfs_root * root = orig_root->fs_info->extent_root;
-	struct btrfs_fs_info *info = root->fs_info;
 	u64 total_needed = num_bytes;
 	u64 *last_ptr = NULL;
-	struct btrfs_block_group_cache *block_group;
+	struct btrfs_block_group_cache *block_group = NULL;
 	int chunk_alloc_done = 0;
 	int empty_cluster = 2 * 1024 * 1024;
 	int allowed_chunk_alloc = 0;
+	struct list_head *head = NULL, *cur = NULL;
+	int loop = 0;
+	struct btrfs_space_info *space_info;
 
 	WARN_ON(num_bytes < root->sectorsize);
 	btrfs_set_key_type(ins, BTRFS_EXTENT_ITEM_KEY);
+	ins->objectid = 0;
+	ins->offset = 0;
 
 	if (orig_root->ref_cows || empty_size)
 		allowed_chunk_alloc = 1;
@@ -2239,152 +2199,132 @@ static int noinline find_free_extent(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans,
 		else
 			empty_size += empty_cluster;
 	}
-
 	search_start = max(search_start, first_logical_byte(root, 0));
-	orig_search_start = search_start;
-
 	search_start = max(search_start, hint_byte);
 	total_needed += empty_size;
 
-new_group:
-	block_group = btrfs_lookup_block_group(info, search_start);
-	if (!block_group)
-		block_group = btrfs_lookup_first_block_group(info,
-							     search_start);
+	block_group = btrfs_lookup_block_group(root->fs_info, search_start);
+	space_info = __find_space_info(root->fs_info, data);
 
-	/*
-	 * Ok this looks a little tricky, buts its really simple.  First if we
-	 * didn't find a block group obviously we want to start over.
-	 * Secondly, if the block group we found does not match the type we
-	 * need, and we have a last_ptr and its not 0, chances are the last
-	 * allocation we made was at the end of the block group, so lets go
-	 * ahead and skip the looking through the rest of the block groups and
-	 * start at the beginning.  This helps with metadata allocations,
-	 * since you are likely to have a bunch of data block groups to search
-	 * through first before you realize that you need to start over, so go
-	 * ahead and start over and save the time.
-	 */
-	if (!block_group || (!block_group_bits(block_group, data) &&
-			     last_ptr && *last_ptr)) {
-		if (search_start != orig_search_start) {
-			if (last_ptr && *last_ptr) {
-				total_needed += empty_cluster;
-				*last_ptr = 0;
-			}
-			search_start = orig_search_start;
-			goto new_group;
-		} else if (!chunk_alloc_done && allowed_chunk_alloc) {
-			ret = do_chunk_alloc(trans, root,
-					     num_bytes + 2 * 1024 * 1024,
-					     data, 1);
-			if (ret < 0)
-				goto error;
-			BUG_ON(ret);
-			chunk_alloc_done = 1;
-			search_start = orig_search_start;
-			goto new_group;
-		} else {
-			ret = -ENOSPC;
-			goto error;
-		}
-	}
-
-	/*
-	 * this is going to seach through all of the existing block groups it
-	 * can find, so if we don't find something we need to see if we can
-	 * allocate what we need.
-	 */
-	ret = find_free_space(root, &block_group, &search_start,
-			      total_needed, data);
-	if (ret == -ENOSPC) {
+	down_read(&space_info->groups_sem);
+	while (1) {
+		struct btrfs_free_space *free_space;
 		/*
-		 * instead of allocating, start at the original search start
-		 * and see if there is something to be found, if not then we
-		 * allocate
+		 * the only way this happens if our hint points to a block
+		 * group thats not of the proper type, while looping this
+		 * should never happen
 		 */
-		if (search_start != orig_search_start) {
-			if (last_ptr && *last_ptr) {
-				*last_ptr = 0;
-				total_needed += empty_cluster;
-			}
-			search_start = orig_search_start;
+		if (unlikely(!block_group_bits(block_group, data)))
 			goto new_group;
-		}
 
-		/*
-		 * we've already allocated, we're pretty screwed
-		 */
-		if (chunk_alloc_done) {
-			goto error;
-		} else if (!allowed_chunk_alloc && block_group &&
-			   block_group_bits(block_group, data)) {
-			block_group->space_info->force_alloc = 1;
-			goto error;
-		} else if (!allowed_chunk_alloc) {
-			goto error;
-		}
+		ret = cache_block_group(root, block_group);
+		if (ret)
+			break;
 
-		ret = do_chunk_alloc(trans, root, num_bytes + 2 * 1024 * 1024,
-				     data, 1);
-		if (ret < 0)
-			goto error;
+		if (block_group->ro)
+			goto new_group;
 
-		BUG_ON(ret);
-		chunk_alloc_done = 1;
-		if (block_group)
-			search_start = block_group->key.objectid +
+		free_space = btrfs_find_free_space(block_group, search_start,
+						   total_needed);
+		if (free_space) {
+			u64 start = block_group->key.objectid;
+			u64 end = block_group->key.objectid +
 				block_group->key.offset;
-		else
-			search_start = orig_search_start;
-		goto new_group;
-	}
 
-	if (ret)
-		goto error;
+			search_start = stripe_align(root, free_space->offset);
 
-	search_start = stripe_align(root, search_start);
-	ins->objectid = search_start;
-	ins->offset = num_bytes;
+			/* move on to the next group */
+			if (search_start + num_bytes >= search_end)
+				goto new_group;
 
-	if (ins->objectid + num_bytes >= search_end) {
-		search_start = orig_search_start;
-		if (chunk_alloc_done) {
-			ret = -ENOSPC;
-			goto error;
+			/* move on to the next group */
+			if (search_start + num_bytes > end)
+				goto new_group;
+
+			if (exclude_nr > 0 &&
+			    (search_start + num_bytes > exclude_start &&
+			     search_start < exclude_start + exclude_nr)) {
+				search_start = exclude_start + exclude_nr;
+				/*
+				 * if search_start is still in this block group
+				 * then we just re-search this block group
+				 */
+				if (search_start >= start &&
+				    search_start < end)
+					continue;
+
+				/* else we go to the next block group */
+				goto new_group;
+			}
+
+			ins->objectid = search_start;
+			ins->offset = num_bytes;
+			/* we are all good, lets return */
+			break;
 		}
-		goto new_group;
-	}
+new_group:
+		/*
+		 * Here's how this works.
+		 * loop == 0: we were searching a block group via a hint
+		 *		and didn't find anything, so we start at
+		 *		the head of the block groups and keep searching
+		 * loop == 1: we're searching through all of the block groups
+		 *		if we hit the head again we have searched
+		 *		all of the block groups for this space and we
+		 *		need to try and allocate, if we cant error out.
+		 * loop == 2: we allocated more space and are looping through
+		 *		all of the block groups again.
+		 */
+		if (loop == 0) {
+			head = &space_info->block_groups;
+			cur = head->next;
 
-	if (ins->objectid + num_bytes >
-	    block_group->key.objectid + block_group->key.offset) {
-		if (search_start == orig_search_start && chunk_alloc_done) {
-			ret = -ENOSPC;
-			goto error;
+			if (last_ptr && *last_ptr) {
+				total_needed += empty_cluster;
+				*last_ptr = 0;
+			}
+			loop++;
+		} else if (loop == 1 && cur == head) {
+			if (allowed_chunk_alloc && !chunk_alloc_done) {
+				up_read(&space_info->groups_sem);
+				ret = do_chunk_alloc(trans, root, num_bytes +
+						     2 * 1024 * 1024, data, 1);
+				if (ret < 0)
+					break;
+				down_read(&space_info->groups_sem);
+				loop++;
+				head = &space_info->block_groups;
+				cur = head->next;
+				chunk_alloc_done = 1;
+			} else if (!allowed_chunk_alloc) {
+				space_info->force_alloc = 1;
+				break;
+			} else {
+				break;
+			}
+		} else if (cur == head) {
+			break;
 		}
-		search_start = block_group->key.objectid +
-			block_group->key.offset;
-		goto new_group;
+
+		block_group = list_entry(cur, struct btrfs_block_group_cache,
+					 list);
+		search_start = block_group->key.objectid;
+		cur = cur->next;
 	}
 
-	if (exclude_nr > 0 && (ins->objectid + num_bytes > exclude_start &&
-	    ins->objectid < exclude_start + exclude_nr)) {
-		search_start = exclude_start + exclude_nr;
-		goto new_group;
+	/* we found what we needed */
+	if (ins->objectid) {
+		if (!(data & BTRFS_BLOCK_GROUP_DATA))
+			trans->block_group = block_group;
+
+		if (last_ptr)
+			*last_ptr = ins->objectid + ins->offset;
+		ret = 0;
+	} else if (!ret) {
+		ret = -ENOSPC;
 	}
 
-	if (!(data & BTRFS_BLOCK_GROUP_DATA))
-		trans->block_group = block_group;
-
-	ins->offset = num_bytes;
-	if (last_ptr) {
-		*last_ptr = ins->objectid + ins->offset;
-		if (*last_ptr ==
-		    btrfs_super_total_bytes(&root->fs_info->super_copy))
-			*last_ptr = 0;
-	}
-
-	ret = 0;
-error:
+	up_read(&space_info->groups_sem);
 	return ret;
 }
 
@@ -2397,7 +2337,7 @@ static void dump_space_info(struct btrfs_space_info *info, u64 bytes)
 	       info->total_bytes - info->bytes_used - info->bytes_pinned -
 	       info->bytes_reserved, (info->full) ? "" : "not ");
 
-	spin_lock(&info->lock);
+	down_read(&info->groups_sem);
 	list_for_each(l, &info->block_groups) {
 		cache = list_entry(l, struct btrfs_block_group_cache, list);
 		spin_lock(&cache->lock);
@@ -2409,7 +2349,7 @@ static void dump_space_info(struct btrfs_space_info *info, u64 bytes)
 		btrfs_dump_free_space(cache, bytes);
 		spin_unlock(&cache->lock);
 	}
-	spin_unlock(&info->lock);
+	up_read(&info->groups_sem);
 }
 
 static int __btrfs_reserve_extent(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans,
@@ -5186,9 +5126,9 @@ int btrfs_free_block_groups(struct btrfs_fs_info *info)
 
 		rb_erase(&block_group->cache_node,
 			 &info->block_group_cache_tree);
-		spin_lock(&block_group->space_info->lock);
+		down_write(&block_group->space_info->groups_sem);
 		list_del(&block_group->list);
-		spin_unlock(&block_group->space_info->lock);
+		up_write(&block_group->space_info->groups_sem);
 		kfree(block_group);
 	}
 	spin_unlock(&info->block_group_cache_lock);
@@ -5249,9 +5189,9 @@ int btrfs_read_block_groups(struct btrfs_root *root)
 					&space_info);
 		BUG_ON(ret);
 		cache->space_info = space_info;
-		spin_lock(&space_info->lock);
-		list_add(&cache->list, &space_info->block_groups);
-		spin_unlock(&space_info->lock);
+		down_write(&space_info->groups_sem);
+		list_add_tail(&cache->list, &space_info->block_groups);
+		up_write(&space_info->groups_sem);
 
 		ret = btrfs_add_block_group_cache(root->fs_info, cache);
 		BUG_ON(ret);
@@ -5297,9 +5237,9 @@ int btrfs_make_block_group(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans,
 	ret = update_space_info(root->fs_info, cache->flags, size, bytes_used,
 				&cache->space_info);
 	BUG_ON(ret);
-	spin_lock(&cache->space_info->lock);
-	list_add(&cache->list, &cache->space_info->block_groups);
-	spin_unlock(&cache->space_info->lock);
+	down_write(&cache->space_info->groups_sem);
+	list_add_tail(&cache->list, &cache->space_info->block_groups);
+	up_write(&cache->space_info->groups_sem);
 
 	ret = btrfs_add_block_group_cache(root->fs_info, cache);
 	BUG_ON(ret);
@@ -5338,9 +5278,9 @@ int btrfs_remove_block_group(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans,
 	btrfs_remove_free_space_cache(block_group);
 	rb_erase(&block_group->cache_node,
 		 &root->fs_info->block_group_cache_tree);
-	spin_lock(&block_group->space_info->lock);
+	down_write(&block_group->space_info->groups_sem);
 	list_del(&block_group->list);
-	spin_unlock(&block_group->space_info->lock);
+	up_write(&block_group->space_info->groups_sem);
 
 	/*
 	memset(shrink_block_group, 0, sizeof(*shrink_block_group));