diff --git a/libxfs/xfs_defer.c b/libxfs/xfs_defer.c
index 4f844b04641b..90dc9ce92106 100644
--- a/libxfs/xfs_defer.c
+++ b/libxfs/xfs_defer.c
@@ -547,14 +547,89 @@ xfs_defer_move(
  *
  * Create and log intent items for all the work that we're capturing so that we
  * can be assured that the items will get replayed if the system goes down
- * before log recovery gets a chance to finish the work it put off.  Then we
- * move the chain from stp to dtp.
+ * before log recovery gets a chance to finish the work it put off.  The entire
+ * deferred ops state is transferred to the capture structure and the
+ * transaction is then ready for the caller to commit it.  If there are no
+ * intent items to capture, this function returns NULL.
+ */
+static struct xfs_defer_capture *
+xfs_defer_ops_capture(
+	struct xfs_trans		*tp)
+{
+	struct xfs_defer_capture	*dfc;
+
+	if (list_empty(&tp->t_dfops))
+		return NULL;
+
+	/* Create an object to capture the defer ops. */
+	dfc = kmem_zalloc(sizeof(*dfc), KM_NOFS);
+	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&dfc->dfc_list);
+	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&dfc->dfc_dfops);
+
+	xfs_defer_create_intents(tp);
+
+	/* Move the dfops chain and transaction state to the capture struct. */
+	list_splice_init(&tp->t_dfops, &dfc->dfc_dfops);
+	dfc->dfc_tpflags = tp->t_flags & XFS_TRANS_LOWMODE;
+	tp->t_flags &= ~XFS_TRANS_LOWMODE;
+
+	return dfc;
+}
+
+/* Release all resources that we used to capture deferred ops. */
+void
+xfs_defer_ops_release(
+	struct xfs_mount		*mp,
+	struct xfs_defer_capture	*dfc)
+{
+	xfs_defer_cancel_list(mp, &dfc->dfc_dfops);
+	kmem_free(dfc);
+}
+
+/*
+ * Capture any deferred ops and commit the transaction.  This is the last step
+ * needed to finish a log intent item that we recovered from the log.
+ */
+int
+xfs_defer_ops_capture_and_commit(
+	struct xfs_trans		*tp,
+	struct list_head		*capture_list)
+{
+	struct xfs_mount		*mp = tp->t_mountp;
+	struct xfs_defer_capture	*dfc;
+	int				error;
+
+	/* If we don't capture anything, commit transaction and exit. */
+	dfc = xfs_defer_ops_capture(tp);
+	if (!dfc)
+		return xfs_trans_commit(tp);
+
+	/* Commit the transaction and add the capture structure to the list. */
+	error = xfs_trans_commit(tp);
+	if (error) {
+		xfs_defer_ops_release(mp, dfc);
+		return error;
+	}
+
+	list_add_tail(&dfc->dfc_list, capture_list);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Attach a chain of captured deferred ops to a new transaction and free the
+ * capture structure.
  */
 void
-xfs_defer_capture(
-	struct xfs_trans	*dtp,
-	struct xfs_trans	*stp)
+xfs_defer_ops_continue(
+	struct xfs_defer_capture	*dfc,
+	struct xfs_trans		*tp)
 {
-	xfs_defer_create_intents(stp);
-	xfs_defer_move(dtp, stp);
+	ASSERT(tp->t_flags & XFS_TRANS_PERM_LOG_RES);
+	ASSERT(!(tp->t_flags & XFS_TRANS_DIRTY));
+
+	/* Move captured dfops chain and state to the transaction. */
+	list_splice_init(&dfc->dfc_dfops, &tp->t_dfops);
+	tp->t_flags |= dfc->dfc_tpflags;
+
+	kmem_free(dfc);
 }
diff --git a/libxfs/xfs_defer.h b/libxfs/xfs_defer.h
index 3164199162b6..3af82ebc1249 100644
--- a/libxfs/xfs_defer.h
+++ b/libxfs/xfs_defer.h
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 
 struct xfs_btree_cur;
 struct xfs_defer_op_type;
+struct xfs_defer_capture;
 
 /*
  * Header for deferred operation list.
@@ -63,10 +64,26 @@ extern const struct xfs_defer_op_type xfs_rmap_update_defer_type;
 extern const struct xfs_defer_op_type xfs_extent_free_defer_type;
 extern const struct xfs_defer_op_type xfs_agfl_free_defer_type;
 
+/*
+ * This structure enables a dfops user to detach the chain of deferred
+ * operations from a transaction so that they can be continued later.
+ */
+struct xfs_defer_capture {
+	/* List of other capture structures. */
+	struct list_head	dfc_list;
+
+	/* Deferred ops state saved from the transaction. */
+	struct list_head	dfc_dfops;
+	unsigned int		dfc_tpflags;
+};
+
 /*
  * Functions to capture a chain of deferred operations and continue them later.
  * This doesn't normally happen except log recovery.
  */
-void xfs_defer_capture(struct xfs_trans *dtp, struct xfs_trans *stp);
+int xfs_defer_ops_capture_and_commit(struct xfs_trans *tp,
+		struct list_head *capture_list);
+void xfs_defer_ops_continue(struct xfs_defer_capture *d, struct xfs_trans *tp);
+void xfs_defer_ops_release(struct xfs_mount *mp, struct xfs_defer_capture *d);
 
 #endif /* __XFS_DEFER_H__ */
