diff --git a/drivers/md/md.c b/drivers/md/md.c
index fb11170c717e..6e853c61d87e 100644
--- a/drivers/md/md.c
+++ b/drivers/md/md.c
@@ -445,6 +445,61 @@ void md_flush_request(mddev_t *mddev, struct bio *bio)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(md_flush_request);
 
+/* Support for plugging.
+ * This mirrors the plugging support in request_queue, but does not
+ * require having a whole queue or request structures.
+ * We allocate an md_plug_cb for each md device and each thread it gets
+ * plugged on.  This links tot the private plug_handle structure in the
+ * personality data where we keep a count of the number of outstanding
+ * plugs so other code can see if a plug is active.
+ */
+struct md_plug_cb {
+	struct blk_plug_cb cb;
+	mddev_t *mddev;
+};
+
+static void plugger_unplug(struct blk_plug_cb *cb)
+{
+	struct md_plug_cb *mdcb = container_of(cb, struct md_plug_cb, cb);
+	if (atomic_dec_and_test(&mdcb->mddev->plug_cnt))
+		md_wakeup_thread(mdcb->mddev->thread);
+	kfree(mdcb);
+}
+
+/* Check that an unplug wakeup will come shortly.
+ * If not, wakeup the md thread immediately
+ */
+int mddev_check_plugged(mddev_t *mddev)
+{
+	struct blk_plug *plug = current->plug;
+	struct md_plug_cb *mdcb;
+
+	if (!plug)
+		return 0;
+
+	list_for_each_entry(mdcb, &plug->cb_list, cb.list) {
+		if (mdcb->cb.callback == plugger_unplug &&
+		    mdcb->mddev == mddev) {
+			/* Already on the list, move to top */
+			if (mdcb != list_first_entry(&plug->cb_list,
+						    struct md_plug_cb,
+						    cb.list))
+				list_move(&mdcb->cb.list, &plug->cb_list);
+			return 1;
+		}
+	}
+	/* Not currently on the callback list */
+	mdcb = kmalloc(sizeof(*mdcb), GFP_ATOMIC);
+	if (!mdcb)
+		return 0;
+
+	mdcb->mddev = mddev;
+	mdcb->cb.callback = plugger_unplug;
+	atomic_inc(&mddev->plug_cnt);
+	list_add(&mdcb->cb.list, &plug->cb_list);
+	return 1;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(mddev_check_plugged);
 
 static inline mddev_t *mddev_get(mddev_t *mddev)
 {
@@ -494,6 +549,7 @@ void mddev_init(mddev_t *mddev)
 	atomic_set(&mddev->active, 1);
 	atomic_set(&mddev->openers, 0);
 	atomic_set(&mddev->active_io, 0);
+	atomic_set(&mddev->plug_cnt, 0);
 	spin_lock_init(&mddev->write_lock);
 	atomic_set(&mddev->flush_pending, 0);
 	init_waitqueue_head(&mddev->sb_wait);
diff --git a/drivers/md/md.h b/drivers/md/md.h
index fad90228672f..0b1fd3f1d85b 100644
--- a/drivers/md/md.h
+++ b/drivers/md/md.h
@@ -179,6 +179,9 @@ struct mddev_s
 	int				delta_disks, new_level, new_layout;
 	int				new_chunk_sectors;
 
+	atomic_t			plug_cnt;	/* If device is expecting
+							 * more bios soon.
+							 */
 	struct mdk_thread_s		*thread;	/* management thread */
 	struct mdk_thread_s		*sync_thread;	/* doing resync or reconstruct */
 	sector_t			curr_resync;	/* last block scheduled */
@@ -508,4 +511,5 @@ extern struct bio *bio_clone_mddev(struct bio *bio, gfp_t gfp_mask,
 				   mddev_t *mddev);
 extern struct bio *bio_alloc_mddev(gfp_t gfp_mask, int nr_iovecs,
 				   mddev_t *mddev);
+extern int mddev_check_plugged(mddev_t *mddev);
 #endif /* _MD_MD_H */