diff -rupN linux-2.6.18-128.1.6_1/fs/ext3/namei.c linux-2.6.18-128.1.6_2/fs/ext3/namei.c
--- linux-2.6.18-128.1.6_1/fs/ext3/namei.c	2009-08-13 19:27:12.000000000 +0530
+++ linux-2.6.18-128.1.6_2/fs/ext3/namei.c	2009-08-13 19:33:34.000000000 +0530
@@ -51,19 +51,25 @@
 #define NAMEI_RA_SIZE        (NAMEI_RA_CHUNKS * NAMEI_RA_BLOCKS)
 #define NAMEI_RA_INDEX(c,b)  (((c) * NAMEI_RA_BLOCKS) + (b))
 
-static struct buffer_head *ext3_append(handle_t *handle,
+struct buffer_head *ext3_append(handle_t *handle,
 					struct inode *inode,
 					u32 *block, int *err)
 {
 	struct buffer_head *bh;
+	struct ext3_inode_info *ei = EXT3_I(inode);
+ 
+	/* with parallel dir operations all appends
+	 * have to be serialized -bzzz */
+	down(&ei->i_append_sem);
 
 	*block = inode->i_size >> inode->i_sb->s_blocksize_bits;
 
-	if ((bh = ext3_bread(handle, inode, *block, 1, err))) {
+	bh = ext3_bread(handle, inode, *block, 1, err);
+	if (bh != NULL) {
 		inode->i_size += inode->i_sb->s_blocksize;
-		EXT3_I(inode)->i_disksize = inode->i_size;
-		ext3_journal_get_write_access(handle,bh);
+		ei->i_disksize = inode->i_size;
 	}
+	up(&ei->i_append_sem);
 	return bh;
 }
 
diff -rupN linux-2.6.18-128.1.6_1/fs/ext3/super.c linux-2.6.18-128.1.6_2/fs/ext3/super.c
--- linux-2.6.18-128.1.6_1/fs/ext3/super.c	2009-08-13 19:27:12.000000000 +0530
+++ linux-2.6.18-128.1.6_2/fs/ext3/super.c	2009-08-13 19:27:40.000000000 +0530
@@ -481,6 +481,9 @@ static struct inode *ext3_alloc_inode(st
 	ei->i_acl = EXT3_ACL_NOT_CACHED;
 	ei->i_default_acl = EXT3_ACL_NOT_CACHED;
 #endif
+	dynlock_init(&ei->i_htree_lock);
+	sema_init(&ei->i_append_sem, 1);
+
 	ei->i_block_alloc_info = NULL;
 	ei->vfs_inode.i_version = 1;
 
diff -rupN linux-2.6.18-128.1.6_1/include/linux/ext3_fs_i.h linux-2.6.18-128.1.6_2/include/linux/ext3_fs_i.h
--- linux-2.6.18-128.1.6_1/include/linux/ext3_fs_i.h	2009-08-13 19:27:12.000000000 +0530
+++ linux-2.6.18-128.1.6_2/include/linux/ext3_fs_i.h	2009-08-13 19:31:22.000000000 +0530
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 #ifndef _LINUX_EXT3_FS_I
 #define _LINUX_EXT3_FS_I
 
+#include <linux/dynlocks.h>
 #include <linux/rwsem.h>
 #include <linux/rbtree.h>
 #include <linux/seqlock.h>
@@ -104,6 +105,10 @@ struct ext3_inode_info {
 	/* block reservation info */
 	struct ext3_block_alloc_info *i_block_alloc_info;
 
+	/* following fields for parallel directory operations -bzzz */
+	struct dynlock   i_htree_lock;
+	struct semaphore i_append_sem;
+
 	__u32	i_dir_start_lookup;
 #ifdef CONFIG_EXT3_FS_XATTR
 	/*