diff --git a/block/qcow2-cluster.c b/block/qcow2-cluster.c
index 166922f8be4cd658dbac5c7828401868a9a6584f..f562b1602efa4107fe7416db9151c627756b77b6 100644
--- a/block/qcow2-cluster.c
+++ b/block/qcow2-cluster.c
@@ -655,7 +655,7 @@ static int write_l2_entries(BlockDriverState *bs, uint64_t *l2_table,
     int ret;
 
     BLKDBG_EVENT(bs->file, BLKDBG_L2_UPDATE);
-    ret = bdrv_pwrite_sync(bs->file, l2_offset + start_offset,
+    ret = bdrv_pwrite(bs->file, l2_offset + start_offset,
         &l2_table[l2_start_index], len);
     if (ret < 0) {
         return ret;
@@ -718,9 +718,17 @@ int qcow2_alloc_cluster_link_l2(BlockDriverState *bs, QCowL2Meta *m)
         goto err;
     }
 
-    for (i = 0; i < j; i++)
-        qcow2_free_any_clusters(bs,
-            be64_to_cpu(old_cluster[i]) & ~QCOW_OFLAG_COPIED, 1);
+    /*
+     * If this was a COW, we need to decrease the refcount of the old cluster.
+     * Also flush bs->file to get the right order for L2 and refcount update.
+     */
+    if (j != 0) {
+        bdrv_flush(bs->file);
+        for (i = 0; i < j; i++) {
+            qcow2_free_any_clusters(bs,
+                be64_to_cpu(old_cluster[i]) & ~QCOW_OFLAG_COPIED, 1);
+        }
+    }
 
     ret = 0;
 err: