diff --git a/block/qcow2-snapshot.c b/block/qcow2-snapshot.c
index 53d9233ba9..a8add9c857 100644
--- a/block/qcow2-snapshot.c
+++ b/block/qcow2-snapshot.c
@@ -277,7 +277,9 @@ static int find_snapshot_by_id_or_name(BlockDriverState *bs, const char *name)
 int qcow2_snapshot_create(BlockDriverState *bs, QEMUSnapshotInfo *sn_info)
 {
     BDRVQcowState *s = bs->opaque;
-    QCowSnapshot *snapshots1, sn1, *sn = &sn1;
+    QCowSnapshot *new_snapshot_list = NULL;
+    QCowSnapshot *old_snapshot_list = NULL;
+    QCowSnapshot sn1, *sn = &sn1;
     int i, ret;
     uint64_t *l1_table = NULL;
     int64_t l1_table_offset;
@@ -303,16 +305,12 @@ int qcow2_snapshot_create(BlockDriverState *bs, QEMUSnapshotInfo *sn_info)
     sn->date_nsec = sn_info->date_nsec;
     sn->vm_clock_nsec = sn_info->vm_clock_nsec;
 
-    ret = qcow2_update_snapshot_refcount(bs, s->l1_table_offset, s->l1_size, 1);
-    if (ret < 0)
-        goto fail;
-
     /* Allocate the L1 table of the snapshot and copy the current one there. */
     l1_table_offset = qcow2_alloc_clusters(bs, s->l1_size * sizeof(uint64_t));
     if (l1_table_offset < 0) {
+        ret = l1_table_offset;
         goto fail;
     }
-    bdrv_flush(bs->file);
 
     sn->l1_table_offset = l1_table_offset;
     sn->l1_size = s->l1_size;
@@ -321,22 +319,50 @@ int qcow2_snapshot_create(BlockDriverState *bs, QEMUSnapshotInfo *sn_info)
     for(i = 0; i < s->l1_size; i++) {
         l1_table[i] = cpu_to_be64(s->l1_table[i]);
     }
-    if (bdrv_pwrite_sync(bs->file, sn->l1_table_offset,
-                    l1_table, s->l1_size * sizeof(uint64_t)) < 0)
+
+    ret = bdrv_pwrite(bs->file, sn->l1_table_offset, l1_table,
+                      s->l1_size * sizeof(uint64_t));
+    if (ret < 0) {
         goto fail;
+    }
+
     g_free(l1_table);
     l1_table = NULL;
 
-    snapshots1 = g_malloc((s->nb_snapshots + 1) * sizeof(QCowSnapshot));
-    if (s->snapshots) {
-        memcpy(snapshots1, s->snapshots, s->nb_snapshots * sizeof(QCowSnapshot));
-        g_free(s->snapshots);
+    /*
+     * Increase the refcounts of all clusters and make sure everything is
+     * stable on disk before updating the snapshot table to contain a pointer
+     * to the new L1 table.
+     */
+    ret = qcow2_update_snapshot_refcount(bs, s->l1_table_offset, s->l1_size, 1);
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        goto fail;
     }
-    s->snapshots = snapshots1;
+
+    ret = bdrv_flush(bs);
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        goto fail;
+    }
+
+    /* Append the new snapshot to the snapshot list */
+    new_snapshot_list = g_malloc((s->nb_snapshots + 1) * sizeof(QCowSnapshot));
+    if (s->snapshots) {
+        memcpy(new_snapshot_list, s->snapshots,
+               s->nb_snapshots * sizeof(QCowSnapshot));
+        old_snapshot_list = s->snapshots;
+    }
+    s->snapshots = new_snapshot_list;
     s->snapshots[s->nb_snapshots++] = *sn;
 
-    if (qcow2_write_snapshots(bs) < 0)
+    ret = qcow2_write_snapshots(bs);
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        g_free(s->snapshots);
+        s->snapshots = old_snapshot_list;
         goto fail;
+    }
+
+    g_free(old_snapshot_list);
+
 #ifdef DEBUG_ALLOC
     {
       BdrvCheckResult result = {0};
@@ -349,7 +375,8 @@ fail:
     g_free(sn->id_str);
     g_free(sn->name);
     g_free(l1_table);
-    return -1;
+
+    return ret;
 }
 
 /* copy the snapshot 'snapshot_name' into the current disk image */