Index: linux-2.6.18.i386/fs/ext4/ext4.h
===================================================================
--- linux-2.6.18.i386.orig/fs/ext4/ext4.h
+++ linux-2.6.18.i386/fs/ext4/ext4.h
@@ -995,6 +995,13 @@ struct mmp_struct {
 extern struct proc_dir_entry *proc_root_ext4;
 
 /*
+ * Indicates that ctime should not be updated in ext4_xattr_set_handle()
+ */
+#ifndef XATTR_NO_CTIME
+#define XATTR_NO_CTIME 0x80
+#endif
+
+/*
  * Function prototypes
  */
 
Index: linux-2.6.18.i386/fs/ext4/xattr.c
===================================================================
--- linux-2.6.18.i386.orig/fs/ext4/xattr.c
+++ linux-2.6.18.i386/fs/ext4/xattr.c
@@ -1026,7 +1026,8 @@ ext4_xattr_set_handle(handle_t *handle, 
 	}
 	if (!error) {
 		ext4_xattr_update_super_block(handle, inode->i_sb);
-		inode->i_ctime = ext4_current_time(inode);
+		if (!(flags & XATTR_NO_CTIME))
+			inode->i_ctime = ext4_current_time(inode);
 		if (!value)
 			EXT4_I(inode)->i_state &= ~EXT4_STATE_NO_EXPAND;
 		error = ext4_mark_iloc_dirty(handle, inode, &is.iloc);