diff --git a/sys/ufs/ffs/ffs_balloc.c b/sys/ufs/ffs/ffs_balloc.c
index 4256f9777301..1f88bcf357ea 100644
--- a/sys/ufs/ffs/ffs_balloc.c
+++ b/sys/ufs/ffs/ffs_balloc.c
@@ -360,6 +360,12 @@ ffs_balloc_ufs1(struct vnode *vp, off_t startoffset, int size,
 	*bpp = nbp;
 	return (0);
 fail:
+	/*
+	 * If we have failed to allocate any blocks, simply return the error.
+	 * This is the usual case and avoids the need to fsync the file.
+	 */
+	if (allocblk == allociblk && allocib == NULL && unwindidx == -1)
+		return (error);
 	/*
 	 * If we have failed part way through block allocation, we
 	 * have to deallocate any indirect blocks that we have allocated.
@@ -821,6 +827,12 @@ ffs_balloc_ufs2(struct vnode *vp, off_t startoffset, int size,
 	*bpp = nbp;
 	return (0);
 fail:
+	/*
+	 * If we have failed to allocate any blocks, simply return the error.
+	 * This is the usual case and avoids the need to fsync the file.
+	 */
+	if (allocblk == allociblk && allocib == NULL && unwindidx == -1)
+		return (error);
 	/*
 	 * If we have failed part way through block allocation, we
 	 * have to deallocate any indirect blocks that we have allocated.