diff --git a/fs/ext3/super.c b/fs/ext3/super.c
index 8ab198133357..580b8a6ca979 100644
--- a/fs/ext3/super.c
+++ b/fs/ext3/super.c
@@ -1264,6 +1264,12 @@ static void ext3_orphan_cleanup (struct super_block * sb,
 		return;
 	}
 
+	if (bdev_read_only(sb->s_bdev)) {
+		printk(KERN_ERR "EXT3-fs: write access "
+			"unavailable, skipping orphan cleanup.\n");
+		return;
+	}
+
 	if (EXT3_SB(sb)->s_mount_state & EXT3_ERROR_FS) {
 		if (es->s_last_orphan)
 			jbd_debug(1, "Errors on filesystem, "
diff --git a/fs/ext4/super.c b/fs/ext4/super.c
index 2ede7e2c7019..486a641ca71b 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/super.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/super.c
@@ -1321,6 +1321,12 @@ static void ext4_orphan_cleanup (struct super_block * sb,
 		return;
 	}
 
+	if (bdev_read_only(sb->s_bdev)) {
+		printk(KERN_ERR "EXT4-fs: write access "
+			"unavailable, skipping orphan cleanup.\n");
+		return;
+	}
+
 	if (EXT4_SB(sb)->s_mount_state & EXT4_ERROR_FS) {
 		if (es->s_last_orphan)
 			jbd_debug(1, "Errors on filesystem, "