diff --git a/fs/btrfs/ctree.c b/fs/btrfs/ctree.c
index 9d7621f271ff..08e0b11ba0a1 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/ctree.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/ctree.c
@@ -420,12 +420,6 @@ void btrfs_put_tree_mod_seq(struct btrfs_fs_info *fs_info,
 	}
 	spin_unlock(&fs_info->tree_mod_seq_lock);
 
-	/*
-	 * we removed the lowest blocker from the blocker list, so there may be
-	 * more processible delayed refs.
-	 */
-	wake_up(&fs_info->tree_mod_seq_wait);
-
 	/*
 	 * anything that's lower than the lowest existing (read: blocked)
 	 * sequence number can be removed from the tree.
diff --git a/fs/btrfs/ctree.h b/fs/btrfs/ctree.h
index 348196350bf0..c38734a07a65 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/ctree.h
+++ b/fs/btrfs/ctree.h
@@ -1252,7 +1252,6 @@ struct btrfs_fs_info {
 	atomic_t tree_mod_seq;
 	struct list_head tree_mod_seq_list;
 	struct seq_list tree_mod_seq_elem;
-	wait_queue_head_t tree_mod_seq_wait;
 
 	/* this protects tree_mod_log */
 	rwlock_t tree_mod_log_lock;
diff --git a/fs/btrfs/delayed-ref.c b/fs/btrfs/delayed-ref.c
index da7419ed01bb..7561431af50d 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/delayed-ref.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/delayed-ref.c
@@ -662,9 +662,6 @@ int btrfs_add_delayed_tree_ref(struct btrfs_fs_info *fs_info,
 	add_delayed_tree_ref(fs_info, trans, &ref->node, bytenr,
 				   num_bytes, parent, ref_root, level, action,
 				   for_cow);
-	if (!need_ref_seq(for_cow, ref_root) &&
-	    waitqueue_active(&fs_info->tree_mod_seq_wait))
-		wake_up(&fs_info->tree_mod_seq_wait);
 	spin_unlock(&delayed_refs->lock);
 	if (need_ref_seq(for_cow, ref_root))
 		btrfs_qgroup_record_ref(trans, &ref->node, extent_op);
@@ -713,9 +710,6 @@ int btrfs_add_delayed_data_ref(struct btrfs_fs_info *fs_info,
 	add_delayed_data_ref(fs_info, trans, &ref->node, bytenr,
 				   num_bytes, parent, ref_root, owner, offset,
 				   action, for_cow);
-	if (!need_ref_seq(for_cow, ref_root) &&
-	    waitqueue_active(&fs_info->tree_mod_seq_wait))
-		wake_up(&fs_info->tree_mod_seq_wait);
 	spin_unlock(&delayed_refs->lock);
 	if (need_ref_seq(for_cow, ref_root))
 		btrfs_qgroup_record_ref(trans, &ref->node, extent_op);
@@ -744,8 +738,6 @@ int btrfs_add_delayed_extent_op(struct btrfs_fs_info *fs_info,
 				   num_bytes, BTRFS_UPDATE_DELAYED_HEAD,
 				   extent_op->is_data);
 
-	if (waitqueue_active(&fs_info->tree_mod_seq_wait))
-		wake_up(&fs_info->tree_mod_seq_wait);
 	spin_unlock(&delayed_refs->lock);
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/fs/btrfs/disk-io.c b/fs/btrfs/disk-io.c
index 502b20c56e84..a7ad8fc8dc53 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/disk-io.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/disk-io.c
@@ -2035,8 +2035,6 @@ int open_ctree(struct super_block *sb,
 	fs_info->free_chunk_space = 0;
 	fs_info->tree_mod_log = RB_ROOT;
 
-	init_waitqueue_head(&fs_info->tree_mod_seq_wait);
-
 	/* readahead state */
 	INIT_RADIX_TREE(&fs_info->reada_tree, GFP_NOFS & ~__GFP_WAIT);
 	spin_lock_init(&fs_info->reada_lock);
diff --git a/fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c b/fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c
index 45c69c4184c9..d3df65f83b5c 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c
@@ -2318,12 +2318,6 @@ static noinline int run_clustered_refs(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans,
 		ref->in_tree = 0;
 		rb_erase(&ref->rb_node, &delayed_refs->root);
 		delayed_refs->num_entries--;
-		/*
-		 * we modified num_entries, but as we're currently running
-		 * delayed refs, skip
-		 *     wake_up(&delayed_refs->seq_wait);
-		 * here.
-		 */
 		spin_unlock(&delayed_refs->lock);
 
 		ret = run_one_delayed_ref(trans, root, ref, extent_op,
@@ -2350,22 +2344,6 @@ next:
 	return count;
 }
 
-static void wait_for_more_refs(struct btrfs_fs_info *fs_info,
-			       struct btrfs_delayed_ref_root *delayed_refs,
-			       unsigned long num_refs,
-			       struct list_head *first_seq)
-{
-	spin_unlock(&delayed_refs->lock);
-	pr_debug("waiting for more refs (num %ld, first %p)\n",
-		 num_refs, first_seq);
-	wait_event(fs_info->tree_mod_seq_wait,
-		   num_refs != delayed_refs->num_entries ||
-		   fs_info->tree_mod_seq_list.next != first_seq);
-	pr_debug("done waiting for more refs (num %ld, first %p)\n",
-		 delayed_refs->num_entries, fs_info->tree_mod_seq_list.next);
-	spin_lock(&delayed_refs->lock);
-}
-
 #ifdef SCRAMBLE_DELAYED_REFS
 /*
  * Normally delayed refs get processed in ascending bytenr order. This
@@ -2460,13 +2438,11 @@ int btrfs_run_delayed_refs(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans,
 	struct btrfs_delayed_ref_root *delayed_refs;
 	struct btrfs_delayed_ref_node *ref;
 	struct list_head cluster;
-	struct list_head *first_seq = NULL;
 	int ret;
 	u64 delayed_start;
 	int run_all = count == (unsigned long)-1;
 	int run_most = 0;
-	unsigned long num_refs = 0;
-	int consider_waiting;
+	int loops;
 
 	/* We'll clean this up in btrfs_cleanup_transaction */
 	if (trans->aborted)
@@ -2484,7 +2460,7 @@ int btrfs_run_delayed_refs(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans,
 	delayed_refs = &trans->transaction->delayed_refs;
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&cluster);
 again:
-	consider_waiting = 0;
+	loops = 0;
 	spin_lock(&delayed_refs->lock);
 
 #ifdef SCRAMBLE_DELAYED_REFS
@@ -2512,31 +2488,6 @@ again:
 		if (ret)
 			break;
 
-		if (delayed_start >= delayed_refs->run_delayed_start) {
-			if (consider_waiting == 0) {
-				/*
-				 * btrfs_find_ref_cluster looped. let's do one
-				 * more cycle. if we don't run any delayed ref
-				 * during that cycle (because we can't because
-				 * all of them are blocked) and if the number of
-				 * refs doesn't change, we avoid busy waiting.
-				 */
-				consider_waiting = 1;
-				num_refs = delayed_refs->num_entries;
-				first_seq = root->fs_info->tree_mod_seq_list.next;
-			} else {
-				wait_for_more_refs(root->fs_info, delayed_refs,
-						   num_refs, first_seq);
-				/*
-				 * after waiting, things have changed. we
-				 * dropped the lock and someone else might have
-				 * run some refs, built new clusters and so on.
-				 * therefore, we restart staleness detection.
-				 */
-				consider_waiting = 0;
-			}
-		}
-
 		ret = run_clustered_refs(trans, root, &cluster);
 		if (ret < 0) {
 			spin_unlock(&delayed_refs->lock);
@@ -2549,9 +2500,26 @@ again:
 		if (count == 0)
 			break;
 
-		if (ret || delayed_refs->run_delayed_start == 0) {
+		if (delayed_start >= delayed_refs->run_delayed_start) {
+			if (loops == 0) {
+				/*
+				 * btrfs_find_ref_cluster looped. let's do one
+				 * more cycle. if we don't run any delayed ref
+				 * during that cycle (because we can't because
+				 * all of them are blocked), bail out.
+				 */
+				loops = 1;
+			} else {
+				/*
+				 * no runnable refs left, stop trying
+				 */
+				BUG_ON(run_all);
+				break;
+			}
+		}
+		if (ret) {
 			/* refs were run, let's reset staleness detection */
-			consider_waiting = 0;
+			loops = 0;
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -5296,9 +5264,6 @@ static noinline int check_ref_cleanup(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans,
 	rb_erase(&head->node.rb_node, &delayed_refs->root);
 
 	delayed_refs->num_entries--;
-	smp_mb();
-	if (waitqueue_active(&root->fs_info->tree_mod_seq_wait))
-		wake_up(&root->fs_info->tree_mod_seq_wait);
 
 	/*
 	 * we don't take a ref on the node because we're removing it from the