diff --git a/proxmox-rrd/src/cache.rs b/proxmox-rrd/src/cache.rs
index e4dd2489..9bbd89de 100644
--- a/proxmox-rrd/src/cache.rs
+++ b/proxmox-rrd/src/cache.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ use std::sync::{Arc, RwLock};
 use std::io::{BufRead, BufReader};
 use std::time::SystemTime;
 use std::thread::spawn;
+use std::os::unix::io::AsRawFd;
+use std::collections::BTreeSet;
+
 use crossbeam_channel::{bounded, TryRecvError};
 use anyhow::{format_err, bail, Error};
 
@@ -127,6 +130,7 @@ impl RRDCache {
 
     /// Apply and commit the journal. Should be used at server startup.
     pub fn apply_journal(&self) -> Result<bool, Error> {
+        let config = Arc::clone(&self.config);
         let state = Arc::clone(&self.state);
         let rrd_map = Arc::clone(&self.rrd_map);
 
@@ -168,7 +172,7 @@ impl RRDCache {
         state_guard.apply_thread_result = Some(receiver);
 
         spawn(move || {
-            let result = apply_and_commit_journal_thread(state, rrd_map, journal_applied)
+            let result = apply_and_commit_journal_thread(config, state, rrd_map, journal_applied)
                 .map_err(|err| err.to_string());
             sender.send(result).unwrap();
         });
@@ -219,6 +223,7 @@ impl RRDCache {
 
 
 fn apply_and_commit_journal_thread(
+    config: Arc<CacheConfig>,
     state: Arc<RwLock<JournalState>>,
     rrd_map: Arc<RwLock<RRDMap>>,
     commit_only: bool,
@@ -242,7 +247,7 @@ fn apply_and_commit_journal_thread(
     let start_time = SystemTime::now();
     log::debug!("commit rrd journal");
 
-    match commit_journal_impl(state, rrd_map) {
+    match commit_journal_impl(config, state, rrd_map) {
         Ok(rrd_file_count) => {
             let elapsed = start_time.elapsed().unwrap().as_secs_f64();
             log::info!("rrd journal successfully committed ({} files in {:.3} seconds)",
@@ -346,7 +351,32 @@ fn apply_journal_impl(
     Ok(lines)
 }
 
+fn fsync_file_or_dir(path: &Path) -> Result<(), Error> {
+    let file = std::fs::File::open(path)?;
+    nix::unistd::fsync(file.as_raw_fd())?;
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+pub(crate)fn fsync_file_and_parent(path: &Path) -> Result<(), Error> {
+    let file = std::fs::File::open(path)?;
+    nix::unistd::fsync(file.as_raw_fd())?;
+    if let Some(parent) = path.parent() {
+        fsync_file_or_dir(parent)?;
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+fn rrd_parent_dir(basedir: &Path, rel_path: &str) -> PathBuf {
+    let mut path = basedir.to_owned();
+    let rel_path = Path::new(rel_path);
+    if let Some(parent) = rel_path.parent() {
+        path.push(parent);
+    }
+    path
+}
+
 fn commit_journal_impl(
+    config: Arc<CacheConfig>,
     state: Arc<RwLock<JournalState>>,
     rrd_map: Arc<RwLock<RRDMap>>,
 ) -> Result<usize, Error> {
@@ -356,8 +386,15 @@ fn commit_journal_impl(
     let mut rrd_file_count = 0;
     let mut errors = 0;
 
+    let mut dir_set = BTreeSet::new();
+
+    log::info!("write rrd data back to disk");
+
     // save all RRDs - we only need a read lock here
+    // Note: no fsync here (we do it afterwards)
     for rel_path in files.iter() {
+        let parent_dir = rrd_parent_dir(&config.basedir, &rel_path);
+        dir_set.insert(parent_dir);
         rrd_file_count += 1;
         if let Err(err) = rrd_map.read().unwrap().flush_rrd_file(&rel_path) {
             errors += 1;
@@ -365,12 +402,29 @@ fn commit_journal_impl(
         }
     }
 
-    state.read().unwrap().syncfs()?;
-
     if errors != 0 {
         bail!("errors during rrd flush - unable to commit rrd journal");
     }
 
+    // Important: We fsync files after writing all data! This increase
+    // the likelihood that files are already synced, so this is
+    // much faster (although we need to re-open the files).
+
+    log::info!("starting rrd data sync");
+
+    for rel_path in files.iter() {
+        let mut path = config.basedir.clone();
+        path.push(&rel_path);
+        fsync_file_or_dir(&path)
+            .map_err(|err| format_err!("fsync rrd file {} failed - {}", rel_path, err))?;
+    }
+
+    // also fsync directories
+    for dir_path in dir_set {
+        fsync_file_or_dir(&dir_path)
+            .map_err(|err| format_err!("fsync rrd dir {:?} failed - {}", dir_path, err))?;
+    }
+
     // if everything went ok, remove the old journal files
     state.write().unwrap().remove_old_journals()?;
 
diff --git a/proxmox-rrd/src/cache/journal.rs b/proxmox-rrd/src/cache/journal.rs
index 1f9c67b9..85e3906a 100644
--- a/proxmox-rrd/src/cache/journal.rs
+++ b/proxmox-rrd/src/cache/journal.rs
@@ -88,11 +88,6 @@ impl JournalState {
         Ok(())
     }
 
-    pub fn syncfs(&self) -> Result<(), nix::Error> {
-        let res = unsafe { libc::syncfs(self.journal.as_raw_fd()) };
-        nix::errno::Errno::result(res).map(drop)
-    }
-
     pub fn append_journal_entry(
         &mut self,
         time: f64,
@@ -143,9 +138,13 @@ impl JournalState {
         let mut new_name = journal_path.clone();
         let now = proxmox_time::epoch_i64();
         new_name.set_extension(format!("journal-{:08x}", now));
-        std::fs::rename(journal_path, new_name)?;
+        std::fs::rename(journal_path, &new_name)?;
 
         self.journal = Self::open_journal_writer(&self.config)?;
+
+        // make sure the old journal data landed on the disk
+        super::fsync_file_and_parent(&new_name)?;
+
         Ok(())
     }