diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_inode.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_inode.c
index ce278b3ae7fc..391d36b0e68c 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_inode.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_inode.c
@@ -2841,10 +2841,14 @@ xfs_iflush(
 	mp = ip->i_mount;
 
 	/*
-	 * If the inode isn't dirty, then just release the inode
-	 * flush lock and do nothing.
+	 * If the inode isn't dirty, then just release the inode flush lock and
+	 * do nothing. Treat stale inodes the same; we cannot rely on the
+	 * backing buffer remaining stale in cache for the remaining life of
+	 * the stale inode and so xfs_itobp() below may give us a buffer that
+	 * no longer contains inodes below. Doing this stale check here also
+	 * avoids forcing the log on pinned, stale inodes.
 	 */
-	if (xfs_inode_clean(ip)) {
+	if (xfs_inode_clean(ip) || xfs_iflags_test(ip, XFS_ISTALE)) {
 		xfs_ifunlock(ip);
 		return 0;
 	}