diff --git a/drivers/mtd/mtd_blkdevs.c b/drivers/mtd/mtd_blkdevs.c
index 344ac1037ee711d79b1a0e58fe992e66723363e3..e0b5f644217145aa7428fc9499cf97fa2aec4d0d 100644
--- a/drivers/mtd/mtd_blkdevs.c
+++ b/drivers/mtd/mtd_blkdevs.c
@@ -119,11 +119,22 @@ static int do_blktrans_request(struct mtd_blktrans_ops *tr,
 	}
 }
 
+int mtd_blktrans_cease_background(struct mtd_blktrans_dev *dev)
+{
+	if (kthread_should_stop())
+		return 1;
+
+	return !elv_queue_empty(dev->rq);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(mtd_blktrans_cease_background);
+
 static int mtd_blktrans_thread(void *arg)
 {
 	struct mtd_blktrans_dev *dev = arg;
+	struct mtd_blktrans_ops *tr = dev->tr;
 	struct request_queue *rq = dev->rq;
 	struct request *req = NULL;
+	int background_done = 0;
 
 	spin_lock_irq(rq->queue_lock);
 
@@ -131,6 +142,19 @@ static int mtd_blktrans_thread(void *arg)
 		int res;
 
 		if (!req && !(req = blk_fetch_request(rq))) {
+			if (tr->background && !background_done) {
+				spin_unlock_irq(rq->queue_lock);
+				mutex_lock(&dev->lock);
+				tr->background(dev);
+				mutex_unlock(&dev->lock);
+				spin_lock_irq(rq->queue_lock);
+				/*
+				 * Do background processing just once per idle
+				 * period.
+				 */
+				background_done = 1;
+				continue;
+			}
 			set_current_state(TASK_INTERRUPTIBLE);
 
 			if (kthread_should_stop())
@@ -152,6 +176,8 @@ static int mtd_blktrans_thread(void *arg)
 
 		if (!__blk_end_request_cur(req, res))
 			req = NULL;
+
+		background_done = 0;
 	}
 
 	if (req)
diff --git a/include/linux/mtd/blktrans.h b/include/linux/mtd/blktrans.h
index 26529ebd59ccf3872fddca921c141184915fcf62..66bec4bf2b0a516b9b1cc1ab06bd0dbe6363d054 100644
--- a/include/linux/mtd/blktrans.h
+++ b/include/linux/mtd/blktrans.h
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ struct mtd_blktrans_ops {
 		     unsigned long block, char *buffer);
 	int (*discard)(struct mtd_blktrans_dev *dev,
 		       unsigned long block, unsigned nr_blocks);
+	void (*background)(struct mtd_blktrans_dev *dev);
 
 	/* Block layer ioctls */
 	int (*getgeo)(struct mtd_blktrans_dev *dev, struct hd_geometry *geo);
@@ -85,6 +86,7 @@ extern int register_mtd_blktrans(struct mtd_blktrans_ops *tr);
 extern int deregister_mtd_blktrans(struct mtd_blktrans_ops *tr);
 extern int add_mtd_blktrans_dev(struct mtd_blktrans_dev *dev);
 extern int del_mtd_blktrans_dev(struct mtd_blktrans_dev *dev);
+extern int mtd_blktrans_cease_background(struct mtd_blktrans_dev *dev);
 
 
 #endif /* __MTD_TRANS_H__ */