diff --git a/fs/ocfs2/dcache.c b/fs/ocfs2/dcache.c
index b4957c7d9fe..edaded48e7e 100644
--- a/fs/ocfs2/dcache.c
+++ b/fs/ocfs2/dcache.c
@@ -40,6 +40,14 @@
 #include "inode.h"
 #include "super.h"
 
+void ocfs2_dentry_attach_gen(struct dentry *dentry)
+{
+	unsigned long gen =
+		OCFS2_I(dentry->d_parent->d_inode)->ip_dir_lock_gen;
+	BUG_ON(dentry->d_inode);
+	dentry->d_fsdata = (void *)gen;
+}
+
 
 static int ocfs2_dentry_revalidate(struct dentry *dentry,
 				   struct nameidata *nd)
@@ -51,11 +59,20 @@ static int ocfs2_dentry_revalidate(struct dentry *dentry,
 	mlog_entry("(0x%p, '%.*s')\n", dentry,
 		   dentry->d_name.len, dentry->d_name.name);
 
-	/* Never trust a negative dentry - force a new lookup. */
+	/* For a negative dentry -
+	 * check the generation number of the parent and compare with the
+	 * one stored in the inode.
+	 */
 	if (inode == NULL) {
-		mlog(0, "negative dentry: %.*s\n", dentry->d_name.len,
-		     dentry->d_name.name);
-		goto bail;
+		unsigned long gen = (unsigned long) dentry->d_fsdata;
+		unsigned long pgen =
+			OCFS2_I(dentry->d_parent->d_inode)->ip_dir_lock_gen;
+		mlog(0, "negative dentry: %.*s parent gen: %lu "
+			"dentry gen: %lu\n",
+			dentry->d_name.len, dentry->d_name.name, pgen, gen);
+		if (gen != pgen)
+			goto bail;
+		goto valid;
 	}
 
 	BUG_ON(!osb);
@@ -96,6 +113,7 @@ static int ocfs2_dentry_revalidate(struct dentry *dentry,
 		goto bail;
 	}
 
+valid:
 	ret = 1;
 
 bail:
@@ -227,6 +245,12 @@ int ocfs2_dentry_attach_lock(struct dentry *dentry,
 	if (!inode)
 		return 0;
 
+	if (!dentry->d_inode && dentry->d_fsdata) {
+		/* Converting a negative dentry to positive
+		   Clear dentry->d_fsdata */
+		dentry->d_fsdata = dl = NULL;
+	}
+
 	if (dl) {
 		mlog_bug_on_msg(dl->dl_parent_blkno != parent_blkno,
 				" \"%.*s\": old parent: %llu, new: %llu\n",
@@ -452,6 +476,7 @@ static void ocfs2_dentry_iput(struct dentry *dentry, struct inode *inode)
 
 out:
 	iput(inode);
+	ocfs2_dentry_attach_gen(dentry);
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/fs/ocfs2/dcache.h b/fs/ocfs2/dcache.h
index f5dd1789acf..b79eff70995 100644
--- a/fs/ocfs2/dcache.h
+++ b/fs/ocfs2/dcache.h
@@ -64,5 +64,6 @@ void ocfs2_dentry_move(struct dentry *dentry, struct dentry *target,
 		       struct inode *old_dir, struct inode *new_dir);
 
 extern spinlock_t dentry_attach_lock;
+void ocfs2_dentry_attach_gen(struct dentry *dentry);
 
 #endif /* OCFS2_DCACHE_H */
diff --git a/fs/ocfs2/dlmglue.c b/fs/ocfs2/dlmglue.c
index 5e02a893f46..e8d94d722ec 100644
--- a/fs/ocfs2/dlmglue.c
+++ b/fs/ocfs2/dlmglue.c
@@ -3635,10 +3635,18 @@ static int ocfs2_data_convert_worker(struct ocfs2_lock_res *lockres,
 {
 	struct inode *inode;
 	struct address_space *mapping;
+	struct ocfs2_inode_info *oi;
 
        	inode = ocfs2_lock_res_inode(lockres);
 	mapping = inode->i_mapping;
 
+	if (S_ISDIR(inode->i_mode)) {
+		oi = OCFS2_I(inode);
+		oi->ip_dir_lock_gen++;
+		mlog(0, "generation: %u\n", oi->ip_dir_lock_gen);
+		goto out;
+	}
+
 	if (!S_ISREG(inode->i_mode))
 		goto out;
 
diff --git a/fs/ocfs2/inode.c b/fs/ocfs2/inode.c
index eece3e05d9d..f935fd6600d 100644
--- a/fs/ocfs2/inode.c
+++ b/fs/ocfs2/inode.c
@@ -335,6 +335,7 @@ void ocfs2_populate_inode(struct inode *inode, struct ocfs2_dinode *fe,
 		    else
 			    inode->i_fop = &ocfs2_dops_no_plocks;
 		    i_size_write(inode, le64_to_cpu(fe->i_size));
+		    OCFS2_I(inode)->ip_dir_lock_gen = 1;
 		    break;
 	    case S_IFLNK:
 		    if (ocfs2_inode_is_fast_symlink(inode))
diff --git a/fs/ocfs2/inode.h b/fs/ocfs2/inode.h
index 0bc477a3aeb..1c508b149b3 100644
--- a/fs/ocfs2/inode.h
+++ b/fs/ocfs2/inode.h
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ struct ocfs2_inode_info
 	/* Only valid if the inode is the dir. */
 	u32				ip_last_used_slot;
 	u64				ip_last_used_group;
+	u32				ip_dir_lock_gen;
 
 	struct ocfs2_alloc_reservation	ip_la_data_resv;
 };
diff --git a/fs/ocfs2/namei.c b/fs/ocfs2/namei.c
index a00dda2e4f1..e7bde21149a 100644
--- a/fs/ocfs2/namei.c
+++ b/fs/ocfs2/namei.c
@@ -171,7 +171,8 @@ bail_add:
 			ret = ERR_PTR(status);
 			goto bail_unlock;
 		}
-	}
+	} else
+		ocfs2_dentry_attach_gen(dentry);
 
 bail_unlock:
 	/* Don't drop the cluster lock until *after* the d_add --