diff --git a/fs/fs-writeback.c b/fs/fs-writeback.c
index 905f3ea38488..55f6e46e06f1 100644
--- a/fs/fs-writeback.c
+++ b/fs/fs-writeback.c
@@ -823,10 +823,16 @@ int bdi_writeback_thread(void *data)
 			continue;
 		}
 
-		if (dirty_writeback_interval)
+		if (wb_has_dirty_io(wb) && dirty_writeback_interval)
 			schedule_timeout(msecs_to_jiffies(dirty_writeback_interval * 10));
-		else
+		else {
+			/*
+			 * We have nothing to do, so can go sleep without any
+			 * timeout and save power. When a work is queued or
+			 * something is made dirty - we will be woken up.
+			 */
 			schedule();
+		}
 
 		try_to_freeze();
 	}
@@ -862,6 +868,26 @@ void wakeup_flusher_threads(long nr_pages)
 	rcu_read_unlock();
 }
 
+/*
+ * This function is used when the first inode for this bdi is marked dirty. It
+ * wakes-up the corresponding bdi thread which should then take care of the
+ * periodic background write-out of dirty inodes.
+ */
+static void wakeup_bdi_thread(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
+{
+	spin_lock(&bdi->wb_lock);
+	if (bdi->wb.task)
+		wake_up_process(bdi->wb.task);
+	else
+		/*
+		 * When bdi tasks are inactive for long time, they are killed.
+		 * In this case we have to wake-up the forker thread which
+		 * should create and run the bdi thread.
+		 */
+		wake_up_process(default_backing_dev_info.wb.task);
+	spin_unlock(&bdi->wb_lock);
+}
+
 static noinline void block_dump___mark_inode_dirty(struct inode *inode)
 {
 	if (inode->i_ino || strcmp(inode->i_sb->s_id, "bdev")) {
@@ -914,6 +940,8 @@ static noinline void block_dump___mark_inode_dirty(struct inode *inode)
 void __mark_inode_dirty(struct inode *inode, int flags)
 {
 	struct super_block *sb = inode->i_sb;
+	struct backing_dev_info *bdi = NULL;
+	bool wakeup_bdi = false;
 
 	/*
 	 * Don't do this for I_DIRTY_PAGES - that doesn't actually
@@ -967,22 +995,31 @@ void __mark_inode_dirty(struct inode *inode, int flags)
 		 * reposition it (that would break b_dirty time-ordering).
 		 */
 		if (!was_dirty) {
-			struct bdi_writeback *wb = &inode_to_bdi(inode)->wb;
-			struct backing_dev_info *bdi = wb->bdi;
+			bdi = inode_to_bdi(inode);
 
-			if (bdi_cap_writeback_dirty(bdi) &&
-			    !test_bit(BDI_registered, &bdi->state)) {
-				WARN_ON(1);
-				printk(KERN_ERR "bdi-%s not registered\n",
-								bdi->name);
+			if (bdi_cap_writeback_dirty(bdi)) {
+				WARN(!test_bit(BDI_registered, &bdi->state),
+				     "bdi-%s not registered\n", bdi->name);
+
+				/*
+				 * If this is the first dirty inode for this
+				 * bdi, we have to wake-up the corresponding
+				 * bdi thread to make sure background
+				 * write-back happens later.
+				 */
+				if (!wb_has_dirty_io(&bdi->wb))
+					wakeup_bdi = true;
 			}
 
 			inode->dirtied_when = jiffies;
-			list_move(&inode->i_list, &wb->b_dirty);
+			list_move(&inode->i_list, &bdi->wb.b_dirty);
 		}
 	}
 out:
 	spin_unlock(&inode_lock);
+
+	if (wakeup_bdi)
+		wakeup_bdi_thread(bdi);
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(__mark_inode_dirty);
 
diff --git a/mm/backing-dev.c b/mm/backing-dev.c
index 9c1c199f88ce..a9a08d88a745 100644
--- a/mm/backing-dev.c
+++ b/mm/backing-dev.c
@@ -439,10 +439,17 @@ static int bdi_forker_thread(void *ptr)
 			break;
 
 		case NO_ACTION:
-			if (dirty_writeback_interval)
-				schedule_timeout(msecs_to_jiffies(dirty_writeback_interval * 10));
+			if (!wb_has_dirty_io(me) || !dirty_writeback_interval)
+				/*
+				 * There are no dirty data. The only thing we
+				 * should now care about is checking for
+				 * inactive bdi threads and killing them. Thus,
+				 * let's sleep for longer time, save energy and
+				 * be friendly for battery-driven devices.
+				 */
+				schedule_timeout(bdi_longest_inactive());
 			else
-				schedule();
+				schedule_timeout(msecs_to_jiffies(dirty_writeback_interval * 10));
 			try_to_freeze();
 			/* Back to the main loop */
 			continue;