diff --git a/drivers/block/rbd.c b/drivers/block/rbd.c
index 16dc3645291c..3e904717c1c0 100644
--- a/drivers/block/rbd.c
+++ b/drivers/block/rbd.c
@@ -777,9 +777,9 @@ static int rbd_do_request(struct request *rq,
 				      ops,
 				      false,
 				      GFP_NOIO, pages, bio);
-	if (IS_ERR(req)) {
+	if (!req) {
 		up_read(&header->snap_rwsem);
-		ret = PTR_ERR(req);
+		ret = -ENOMEM;
 		goto done_pages;
 	}
 
diff --git a/fs/ceph/addr.c b/fs/ceph/addr.c
index e159c529fd2b..38b8ab554924 100644
--- a/fs/ceph/addr.c
+++ b/fs/ceph/addr.c
@@ -775,6 +775,13 @@ static int ceph_writepages_start(struct address_space *mapping,
 					    ci->i_truncate_seq,
 					    ci->i_truncate_size,
 					    &inode->i_mtime, true, 1, 0);
+
+				if (!req) {
+					rc = -ENOMEM;
+					unlock_page(page);
+					break;
+				}
+
 				max_pages = req->r_num_pages;
 
 				alloc_page_vec(fsc, req);
diff --git a/fs/ceph/caps.c b/fs/ceph/caps.c
index 5323c330bbf3..9fa08662a88d 100644
--- a/fs/ceph/caps.c
+++ b/fs/ceph/caps.c
@@ -1331,10 +1331,11 @@ static void ceph_flush_snaps(struct ceph_inode_info *ci)
 }
 
 /*
- * Mark caps dirty.  If inode is newly dirty, add to the global dirty
- * list.
+ * Mark caps dirty.  If inode is newly dirty, return the dirty flags.
+ * Caller is then responsible for calling __mark_inode_dirty with the
+ * returned flags value.
  */
-void __ceph_mark_dirty_caps(struct ceph_inode_info *ci, int mask)
+int __ceph_mark_dirty_caps(struct ceph_inode_info *ci, int mask)
 {
 	struct ceph_mds_client *mdsc =
 		ceph_sb_to_client(ci->vfs_inode.i_sb)->mdsc;
@@ -1357,7 +1358,7 @@ void __ceph_mark_dirty_caps(struct ceph_inode_info *ci, int mask)
 		list_add(&ci->i_dirty_item, &mdsc->cap_dirty);
 		spin_unlock(&mdsc->cap_dirty_lock);
 		if (ci->i_flushing_caps == 0) {
-			igrab(inode);
+			ihold(inode);
 			dirty |= I_DIRTY_SYNC;
 		}
 	}
@@ -1365,9 +1366,8 @@ void __ceph_mark_dirty_caps(struct ceph_inode_info *ci, int mask)
 	if (((was | ci->i_flushing_caps) & CEPH_CAP_FILE_BUFFER) &&
 	    (mask & CEPH_CAP_FILE_BUFFER))
 		dirty |= I_DIRTY_DATASYNC;
-	if (dirty)
-		__mark_inode_dirty(inode, dirty);
 	__cap_delay_requeue(mdsc, ci);
+	return dirty;
 }
 
 /*
@@ -1991,7 +1991,7 @@ static void __take_cap_refs(struct ceph_inode_info *ci, int got)
 		ci->i_wr_ref++;
 	if (got & CEPH_CAP_FILE_BUFFER) {
 		if (ci->i_wrbuffer_ref == 0)
-			igrab(&ci->vfs_inode);
+			ihold(&ci->vfs_inode);
 		ci->i_wrbuffer_ref++;
 		dout("__take_cap_refs %p wrbuffer %d -> %d (?)\n",
 		     &ci->vfs_inode, ci->i_wrbuffer_ref-1, ci->i_wrbuffer_ref);
diff --git a/fs/ceph/file.c b/fs/ceph/file.c
index 159b512d5a27..203252d88d9f 100644
--- a/fs/ceph/file.c
+++ b/fs/ceph/file.c
@@ -734,9 +734,12 @@ static ssize_t ceph_aio_write(struct kiocb *iocb, const struct iovec *iov,
 		}
 	}
 	if (ret >= 0) {
+		int dirty;
 		spin_lock(&inode->i_lock);
-		__ceph_mark_dirty_caps(ci, CEPH_CAP_FILE_WR);
+		dirty = __ceph_mark_dirty_caps(ci, CEPH_CAP_FILE_WR);
 		spin_unlock(&inode->i_lock);
+		if (dirty)
+			__mark_inode_dirty(inode, dirty);
 	}
 
 out:
diff --git a/fs/ceph/inode.c b/fs/ceph/inode.c
index b54c97da1c43..03d6dafda61f 100644
--- a/fs/ceph/inode.c
+++ b/fs/ceph/inode.c
@@ -1567,6 +1567,7 @@ int ceph_setattr(struct dentry *dentry, struct iattr *attr)
 	int release = 0, dirtied = 0;
 	int mask = 0;
 	int err = 0;
+	int inode_dirty_flags = 0;
 
 	if (ceph_snap(inode) != CEPH_NOSNAP)
 		return -EROFS;
@@ -1725,13 +1726,16 @@ int ceph_setattr(struct dentry *dentry, struct iattr *attr)
 		dout("setattr %p ATTR_FILE ... hrm!\n", inode);
 
 	if (dirtied) {
-		__ceph_mark_dirty_caps(ci, dirtied);
+		inode_dirty_flags = __ceph_mark_dirty_caps(ci, dirtied);
 		inode->i_ctime = CURRENT_TIME;
 	}
 
 	release &= issued;
 	spin_unlock(&inode->i_lock);
 
+	if (inode_dirty_flags)
+		__mark_inode_dirty(inode, inode_dirty_flags);
+
 	if (mask) {
 		req->r_inode = igrab(inode);
 		req->r_inode_drop = release;
diff --git a/fs/ceph/super.h b/fs/ceph/super.h
index 619fe719968f..b1f1b8bb1271 100644
--- a/fs/ceph/super.h
+++ b/fs/ceph/super.h
@@ -506,7 +506,7 @@ static inline int __ceph_caps_dirty(struct ceph_inode_info *ci)
 {
 	return ci->i_dirty_caps | ci->i_flushing_caps;
 }
-extern void __ceph_mark_dirty_caps(struct ceph_inode_info *ci, int mask);
+extern int __ceph_mark_dirty_caps(struct ceph_inode_info *ci, int mask);
 
 extern int ceph_caps_revoking(struct ceph_inode_info *ci, int mask);
 extern int __ceph_caps_used(struct ceph_inode_info *ci);
diff --git a/fs/ceph/xattr.c b/fs/ceph/xattr.c
index 8c9eba6ef9df..f2b628696180 100644
--- a/fs/ceph/xattr.c
+++ b/fs/ceph/xattr.c
@@ -703,6 +703,7 @@ int ceph_setxattr(struct dentry *dentry, const char *name,
 	struct ceph_inode_xattr *xattr = NULL;
 	int issued;
 	int required_blob_size;
+	int dirty;
 
 	if (ceph_snap(inode) != CEPH_NOSNAP)
 		return -EROFS;
@@ -763,11 +764,12 @@ int ceph_setxattr(struct dentry *dentry, const char *name,
 	dout("setxattr %p issued %s\n", inode, ceph_cap_string(issued));
 	err = __set_xattr(ci, newname, name_len, newval,
 			  val_len, 1, 1, 1, &xattr);
-	__ceph_mark_dirty_caps(ci, CEPH_CAP_XATTR_EXCL);
+	dirty = __ceph_mark_dirty_caps(ci, CEPH_CAP_XATTR_EXCL);
 	ci->i_xattrs.dirty = true;
 	inode->i_ctime = CURRENT_TIME;
 	spin_unlock(&inode->i_lock);
-
+	if (dirty)
+		__mark_inode_dirty(inode, dirty);
 	return err;
 
 do_sync:
@@ -810,6 +812,7 @@ int ceph_removexattr(struct dentry *dentry, const char *name)
 	struct ceph_vxattr_cb *vxattrs = ceph_inode_vxattrs(inode);
 	int issued;
 	int err;
+	int dirty;
 
 	if (ceph_snap(inode) != CEPH_NOSNAP)
 		return -EROFS;
@@ -833,12 +836,13 @@ int ceph_removexattr(struct dentry *dentry, const char *name)
 		goto do_sync;
 
 	err = __remove_xattr_by_name(ceph_inode(inode), name);
-	__ceph_mark_dirty_caps(ci, CEPH_CAP_XATTR_EXCL);
+	dirty = __ceph_mark_dirty_caps(ci, CEPH_CAP_XATTR_EXCL);
 	ci->i_xattrs.dirty = true;
 	inode->i_ctime = CURRENT_TIME;
 
 	spin_unlock(&inode->i_lock);
-
+	if (dirty)
+		__mark_inode_dirty(inode, dirty);
 	return err;
 do_sync:
 	spin_unlock(&inode->i_lock);
diff --git a/net/ceph/messenger.c b/net/ceph/messenger.c
index 05f357828a2f..e15a82ccc05f 100644
--- a/net/ceph/messenger.c
+++ b/net/ceph/messenger.c
@@ -2267,6 +2267,19 @@ struct ceph_msg *ceph_msg_new(int type, int front_len, gfp_t flags)
 	m->more_to_follow = false;
 	m->pool = NULL;
 
+	/* middle */
+	m->middle = NULL;
+
+	/* data */
+	m->nr_pages = 0;
+	m->page_alignment = 0;
+	m->pages = NULL;
+	m->pagelist = NULL;
+	m->bio = NULL;
+	m->bio_iter = NULL;
+	m->bio_seg = 0;
+	m->trail = NULL;
+
 	/* front */
 	if (front_len) {
 		if (front_len > PAGE_CACHE_SIZE) {
@@ -2286,19 +2299,6 @@ struct ceph_msg *ceph_msg_new(int type, int front_len, gfp_t flags)
 	}
 	m->front.iov_len = front_len;
 
-	/* middle */
-	m->middle = NULL;
-
-	/* data */
-	m->nr_pages = 0;
-	m->page_alignment = 0;
-	m->pages = NULL;
-	m->pagelist = NULL;
-	m->bio = NULL;
-	m->bio_iter = NULL;
-	m->bio_seg = 0;
-	m->trail = NULL;
-
 	dout("ceph_msg_new %p front %d\n", m, front_len);
 	return m;
 
diff --git a/net/ceph/osd_client.c b/net/ceph/osd_client.c
index 5a80f41c0cba..6b5dda1cb5df 100644
--- a/net/ceph/osd_client.c
+++ b/net/ceph/osd_client.c
@@ -470,8 +470,8 @@ struct ceph_osd_request *ceph_osdc_new_request(struct ceph_osd_client *osdc,
 					 snapc, ops,
 					 use_mempool,
 					 GFP_NOFS, NULL, NULL);
-	if (IS_ERR(req))
-		return req;
+	if (!req)
+		return NULL;
 
 	/* calculate max write size */
 	calc_layout(osdc, vino, layout, off, plen, req, ops);