diff --git a/docs/formatdomain.html.in b/docs/formatdomain.html.in
index 6bb5721a74..de9b480ac2 100644
--- a/docs/formatdomain.html.in
+++ b/docs/formatdomain.html.in
@@ -1396,7 +1396,7 @@
       <target dir='/'/>
     </filesystem>
     <filesystem type='mount' accessmode='passthrough'>
-      <driver type='path'/>
+      <driver type='path' wrpolicy='immediate'/>
       <source dir='/export/to/guest'/>
       <target dir='/import/from/host'/>
       <readonly/>
@@ -1423,7 +1423,12 @@
         sub-element <code>driver</code>, with an
         attribute <code>type='path'</code>
         or <code>type='handle'</code> <span class="since">(since
-        0.9.7)</span>.
+        0.9.7)</span>. The driver block has an optional attribute
+        <code>wrpolicy</code> that further controls interaction with
+        the host page cache; omitting the attribute gives default behavior,
+        while the value <code>immediate</code> means that a host writeback
+        is immediately triggered for all pages touched during a guest file
+        write operation <span class="since">(since 0.9.10)</span>.
         </dd>
         <dt><code>type='template'</code></dt>
         <dd>
diff --git a/docs/schemas/domaincommon.rng b/docs/schemas/domaincommon.rng
index 27b9a1f046..2041dfbbc2 100644
--- a/docs/schemas/domaincommon.rng
+++ b/docs/schemas/domaincommon.rng
@@ -1162,6 +1162,11 @@
                     <value>handle</value>
                   </choice>
                 </attribute>
+                <optional>
+                  <attribute name="wrpolicy">
+                    <value>immediate</value>
+                  </attribute>
+                </optional>
                 <empty/>
               </element>
             </optional>
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 96a4669fc3..f97014eef4 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -266,6 +266,9 @@ VIR_ENUM_IMPL(virDomainFSAccessMode, VIR_DOMAIN_FS_ACCESSMODE_LAST,
               "mapped",
               "squash")
 
+VIR_ENUM_IMPL(virDomainFSWrpolicy, VIR_DOMAIN_FS_WRPOLICY_LAST,
+              "default",
+              "immediate")
 
 VIR_ENUM_IMPL(virDomainNet, VIR_DOMAIN_NET_TYPE_LAST,
               "user",
@@ -3460,6 +3463,7 @@ virDomainFSDefParseXML(xmlNodePtr node,
     char *source = NULL;
     char *target = NULL;
     char *accessmode = NULL;
+    char *wrpolicy = NULL;
 
     if (VIR_ALLOC(def) < 0) {
         virReportOOMError();
@@ -3509,6 +3513,7 @@ virDomainFSDefParseXML(xmlNodePtr node,
                 def->readonly = 1;
             } else if ((fsdriver == NULL) && (xmlStrEqual(cur->name, BAD_CAST "driver"))) {
                 fsdriver = virXMLPropString(cur, "type");
+                wrpolicy = virXMLPropString(cur, "wrpolicy");
             }
         }
         cur = cur->next;
@@ -3522,6 +3527,16 @@ virDomainFSDefParseXML(xmlNodePtr node,
         }
     }
 
+    if (wrpolicy) {
+        if ((def->wrpolicy = virDomainFSWrpolicyTypeFromString(wrpolicy)) <= 0) {
+            virDomainReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
+                                 _("unknown filesystem write policy '%s'"), wrpolicy);
+            goto error;
+        }
+    } else {
+        def->wrpolicy = VIR_DOMAIN_FS_WRPOLICY_DEFAULT;
+    }
+
     if (source == NULL) {
         virDomainReportError(VIR_ERR_NO_SOURCE,
                              target ? "%s" : NULL, target);
@@ -3548,6 +3563,7 @@ cleanup:
     VIR_FREE(target);
     VIR_FREE(source);
     VIR_FREE(accessmode);
+    VIR_FREE(wrpolicy);
 
     return def;
 
@@ -10166,6 +10182,7 @@ virDomainFSDefFormat(virBufferPtr buf,
     const char *type = virDomainFSTypeToString(def->type);
     const char *accessmode = virDomainFSAccessModeTypeToString(def->accessmode);
     const char *fsdriver = virDomainFSDriverTypeTypeToString(def->fsdriver);
+    const char *wrpolicy = virDomainFSWrpolicyTypeToString(def->wrpolicy);
 
     if (!type) {
         virDomainReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
@@ -10185,7 +10202,14 @@ virDomainFSDefFormat(virBufferPtr buf,
                       type, accessmode);
 
     if (def->fsdriver) {
-        virBufferAsprintf(buf, "      <driver type='%s'/>\n", fsdriver);
+        virBufferAsprintf(buf, "      <driver type='%s'", fsdriver);
+
+        /* Don't generate anything if wrpolicy is set to default */
+        if (def->wrpolicy) {
+            virBufferAsprintf(buf, " wrpolicy='%s'", wrpolicy);
+        }
+
+        virBufferAddLit(buf, "/>\n");
     }
 
     if (def->src) {
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.h b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
index f3c45be07c..b121f9c17e 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
@@ -491,12 +491,21 @@ enum virDomainFSAccessMode {
     VIR_DOMAIN_FS_ACCESSMODE_LAST
 };
 
+/* Filesystem Write policy */
+enum virDomainFSWrpolicy {
+    VIR_DOMAIN_FS_WRPOLICY_DEFAULT = 0,
+    VIR_DOMAIN_FS_WRPOLICY_IMMEDIATE,
+
+    VIR_DOMAIN_FS_WRPOLICY_LAST
+};
+
 typedef struct _virDomainFSDef virDomainFSDef;
 typedef virDomainFSDef *virDomainFSDefPtr;
 struct _virDomainFSDef {
     int type;
     int fsdriver;
     int accessmode;
+    int wrpolicy; /* enum virDomainFSWrpolicy */
     char *src;
     char *dst;
     unsigned int readonly : 1;
@@ -1985,6 +1994,7 @@ VIR_ENUM_DECL(virDomainControllerModelUSB)
 VIR_ENUM_DECL(virDomainFS)
 VIR_ENUM_DECL(virDomainFSDriverType)
 VIR_ENUM_DECL(virDomainFSAccessMode)
+VIR_ENUM_DECL(virDomainFSWrpolicy)
 VIR_ENUM_DECL(virDomainNet)
 VIR_ENUM_DECL(virDomainNetBackend)
 VIR_ENUM_DECL(virDomainNetVirtioTxMode)
diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index faab0e252a..df8e4b0eec 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -316,6 +316,8 @@ virDomainDiskTypeToString;
 virDomainFSDefFree;
 virDomainFSTypeFromString;
 virDomainFSTypeToString;
+virDomainFSWrpolicyTypeFromString;
+virDomainFSWrpolicyTypeToString;
 virDomainFindByID;
 virDomainFindByName;
 virDomainFindByUUID;
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
index e9ae44d325..0a1c9aa384 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.c
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
  * qemu_capabilities.c: QEMU capabilities generation
  *
- * Copyright (C) 2006-2011 Red Hat, Inc.
+ * Copyright (C) 2006-2012 Red Hat, Inc.
  * Copyright (C) 2006 Daniel P. Berrange
  *
  * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
@@ -149,6 +149,7 @@ VIR_ENUM_IMPL(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_LAST,
               "blk-sg-io",
               "drive-copy-on-read",
               "cpu-host",
+              "fsdev-writeout",
     );
 
 struct qemu_feature_flags {
@@ -1090,6 +1091,8 @@ qemuCapsComputeCmdFlags(const char *help,
         qemuCapsSet(flags, QEMU_CAPS_FSDEV);
         if (strstr(fsdev, "readonly"))
             qemuCapsSet(flags, QEMU_CAPS_FSDEV_READONLY);
+        if (strstr(fsdev, "writeout"))
+            qemuCapsSet(flags, QEMU_CAPS_FSDEV_WRITEOUT);
     }
     if (strstr(help, "-smbios type"))
         qemuCapsSet(flags, QEMU_CAPS_SMBIOS_TYPE);
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
index d69f854a2d..1d4d10e59d 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_capabilities.h
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
  * qemu_capabilities.h: QEMU capabilities generation
  *
- * Copyright (C) 2006-2011 Red Hat, Inc.
+ * Copyright (C) 2006-2012 Red Hat, Inc.
  * Copyright (C) 2006 Daniel P. Berrange
  *
  * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ enum qemuCapsFlags {
     QEMU_CAPS_VIRTIO_BLK_SG_IO   = 81, /* support for SG_IO commands, reportedly added in 0.11 */
     QEMU_CAPS_DRIVE_COPY_ON_READ = 82, /* -drive copy-on-read */
     QEMU_CAPS_CPU_HOST          = 83, /* support for -cpu host */
+    QEMU_CAPS_FSDEV_WRITEOUT     = 84, /* -fsdev writeout supported */
 
     QEMU_CAPS_LAST,                   /* this must always be the last item */
 };
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
index eccbe01638..3bbe9cf639 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_command.c
@@ -2138,6 +2138,7 @@ char *qemuBuildFSStr(virDomainFSDefPtr fs,
 {
     virBuffer opt = VIR_BUFFER_INITIALIZER;
     const char *driver = qemuDomainFSDriverTypeToString(fs->fsdriver);
+    const char *wrpolicy = virDomainFSWrpolicyTypeToString(fs->wrpolicy);
 
     if (fs->type != VIR_DOMAIN_FS_TYPE_MOUNT) {
         qemuReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
@@ -2170,6 +2171,17 @@ char *qemuBuildFSStr(virDomainFSDefPtr fs,
             goto error;
         }
     }
+
+    if (fs->wrpolicy) {
+       if (qemuCapsGet(qemuCaps, QEMU_CAPS_FSDEV_WRITEOUT)) {
+           virBufferAsprintf(&opt, ",writeout=%s", wrpolicy);
+       } else {
+           qemuReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
+                          _("filesystem writeout not supported"));
+           goto error;
+       }
+    }
+
     virBufferAsprintf(&opt, ",id=%s%s", QEMU_FSDEV_HOST_PREFIX, fs->info.alias);
     virBufferAsprintf(&opt, ",path=%s", fs->src);
 
diff --git a/tests/qemuhelptest.c b/tests/qemuhelptest.c
index 164707df56..8802271d39 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhelptest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuhelptest.c
@@ -666,7 +666,8 @@ mymain(void)
             QEMU_CAPS_FSDEV_READONLY,
             QEMU_CAPS_VIRTIO_BLK_SCSI,
             QEMU_CAPS_VIRTIO_BLK_SG_IO,
-            QEMU_CAPS_CPU_HOST);
+            QEMU_CAPS_CPU_HOST,
+            QEMU_CAPS_FSDEV_WRITEOUT);
 
     return ret == 0 ? EXIT_SUCCESS : EXIT_FAILURE;
 }
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-fs9p.args b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-fs9p.args
index 857981052f..f244114f04 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-fs9p.args
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-fs9p.args
@@ -4,10 +4,10 @@ unix:/tmp/test-monitor,server,nowait -no-acpi -boot c -hda \
 /dev/HostVG/QEMUGuest1 -fsdev local,security_model=passthrough,id=fsdev-fs0,\
 path=/export/to/guest -device virtio-9p-pci,id=fs0,fsdev=fsdev-fs0,\
 mount_tag=/import/from/host,bus=pci.0,addr=0x3 \
--fsdev local,security_model=mapped,id=fsdev-fs1,\
+-fsdev local,security_model=mapped,writeout=immediate,id=fsdev-fs1,\
 path=/export/to/guest2 -device virtio-9p-pci,id=fs1,fsdev=fsdev-fs1,\
 mount_tag=/import/from/host2,bus=pci.0,addr=0x4 \
--fsdev handle,id=fsdev-fs2,\
+-fsdev handle,writeout=immediate,id=fsdev-fs2,\
 path=/export/to/guest3 -device virtio-9p-pci,id=fs2,fsdev=fsdev-fs2,\
 mount_tag=/import/from/host3,bus=pci.0,addr=0x5 \
 -usb -device virtio-balloon-pci,id=balloon0,bus=pci.0,addr=0x6
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-fs9p.xml b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-fs9p.xml
index 07d7e8abe3..e31db4879c 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-fs9p.xml
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-fs9p.xml
@@ -25,12 +25,12 @@
       <target dir='/import/from/host'/>
     </filesystem>
     <filesystem accessmode='mapped'>
-      <driver type='path'/>
+      <driver type='path' wrpolicy='immediate'/>
       <source dir='/export/to/guest2'/>
       <target dir='/import/from/host2'/>
     </filesystem>
     <filesystem>
-      <driver type='handle'/>
+      <driver type='handle' wrpolicy='immediate'/>
       <source dir='/export/to/guest3'/>
       <target dir='/import/from/host3'/>
     </filesystem>
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
index d1834f59d3..5cec86bed4 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
@@ -651,7 +651,8 @@ mymain(void)
     DO_TEST("sound-device", false,
             QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE, QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG, QEMU_CAPS_HDA_DUPLEX);
     DO_TEST("fs9p", false,
-            QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE, QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG, QEMU_CAPS_FSDEV);
+            QEMU_CAPS_DEVICE, QEMU_CAPS_NODEFCONFIG, QEMU_CAPS_FSDEV,
+            QEMU_CAPS_FSDEV_WRITEOUT);
 
     DO_TEST("hostdev-usb-address", false, NONE);
     DO_TEST("hostdev-usb-address-device", false,