Index: linux-2.6.16.54-0.2.5/include/linux/ext3_fs.h
===================================================================
--- linux-2.6.16.54-0.2.5.orig/include/linux/ext3_fs.h
+++ linux-2.6.16.54-0.2.5/include/linux/ext3_fs.h
@@ -913,6 +913,13 @@ struct mmp_struct {
 #define EXT3_MMP_MIN_CHECK_INTERVAL	5
 
 /*
+ * Indicates that ctime should not be updated in ext3_xattr_set_handle()
+ */
+#ifndef XATTR_NO_CTIME
+#define XATTR_NO_CTIME 0x80
+#endif
+
+/*
  * Function prototypes
  */
 
Index: linux-2.6.16.54-0.2.5/fs/ext3/xattr.c
===================================================================
--- linux-2.6.16.54-0.2.5.orig/fs/ext3/xattr.c
+++ linux-2.6.16.54-0.2.5/fs/ext3/xattr.c
@@ -1030,8 +1030,8 @@ ext3_xattr_set_handle(handle_t *handle, 
 	}
 	if (!error) {
 		ext3_xattr_update_super_block(handle, inode->i_sb);
-		inode->i_ctime = ext3_current_time(inode);
-
+		if (!(flags & XATTR_NO_CTIME))
+			inode->i_ctime = ext3_current_time(inode);
 		error = ext3_mark_iloc_dirty(handle, inode, &is.iloc);
 		if (!value)
 			EXT3_I(inode)->i_state &= ~EXT3_STATE_NO_EXPAND;