diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_aops.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_aops.c
index 983d11c27d32..7b8bb6bde981 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_aops.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_aops.c
@@ -1023,7 +1023,7 @@ xfs_vm_bmap(
 	 * Since we don't pass back blockdev info, we can't return bmap
 	 * information for rt files either.
 	 */
-	if (xfs_is_reflink_inode(ip) || XFS_IS_REALTIME_INODE(ip))
+	if (xfs_is_cow_inode(ip) || XFS_IS_REALTIME_INODE(ip))
 		return 0;
 	return iomap_bmap(mapping, block, &xfs_iomap_ops);
 }
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_bmap_util.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_bmap_util.c
index 1ee8c5539fa4..2db43ff4f8b5 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_bmap_util.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_bmap_util.c
@@ -1162,16 +1162,13 @@ xfs_zero_file_space(
 	 * by virtue of the hole punch.
 	 */
 	error = xfs_free_file_space(ip, offset, len);
-	if (error)
-		goto out;
+	if (error || xfs_is_always_cow_inode(ip))
+		return error;
 
-	error = xfs_alloc_file_space(ip, round_down(offset, blksize),
+	return xfs_alloc_file_space(ip, round_down(offset, blksize),
 				     round_up(offset + len, blksize) -
 				     round_down(offset, blksize),
 				     XFS_BMAPI_PREALLOC);
-out:
-	return error;
-
 }
 
 static int
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_file.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_file.c
index 1d07dcfbbff3..770cc2edf777 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_file.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_file.c
@@ -507,7 +507,7 @@ xfs_file_dio_aio_write(
 		 * We can't properly handle unaligned direct I/O to reflink
 		 * files yet, as we can't unshare a partial block.
 		 */
-		if (xfs_is_reflink_inode(ip)) {
+		if (xfs_is_cow_inode(ip)) {
 			trace_xfs_reflink_bounce_dio_write(ip, iocb->ki_pos, count);
 			return -EREMCHG;
 		}
@@ -872,14 +872,27 @@ xfs_file_fallocate(
 				goto out_unlock;
 		}
 
-		if (mode & FALLOC_FL_ZERO_RANGE)
+		if (mode & FALLOC_FL_ZERO_RANGE) {
 			error = xfs_zero_file_space(ip, offset, len);
-		else {
-			if (mode & FALLOC_FL_UNSHARE_RANGE) {
-				error = xfs_reflink_unshare(ip, offset, len);
-				if (error)
-					goto out_unlock;
+		} else if (mode & FALLOC_FL_UNSHARE_RANGE) {
+			error = xfs_reflink_unshare(ip, offset, len);
+			if (error)
+				goto out_unlock;
+
+			if (!xfs_is_always_cow_inode(ip)) {
+				error = xfs_alloc_file_space(ip, offset, len,
+						XFS_BMAPI_PREALLOC);
 			}
+		} else {
+			/*
+			 * If always_cow mode we can't use preallocations and
+			 * thus should not create them.
+			 */
+			if (xfs_is_always_cow_inode(ip)) {
+				error = -EOPNOTSUPP;
+				goto out_unlock;
+			}
+
 			error = xfs_alloc_file_space(ip, offset, len,
 						     XFS_BMAPI_PREALLOC);
 		}
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_iomap.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_iomap.c
index 0803ed76e296..01210eae8bf3 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_iomap.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_iomap.c
@@ -395,12 +395,13 @@ xfs_quota_calc_throttle(
 STATIC xfs_fsblock_t
 xfs_iomap_prealloc_size(
 	struct xfs_inode	*ip,
+	int			whichfork,
 	loff_t			offset,
 	loff_t			count,
 	struct xfs_iext_cursor	*icur)
 {
 	struct xfs_mount	*mp = ip->i_mount;
-	struct xfs_ifork	*ifp = XFS_IFORK_PTR(ip, XFS_DATA_FORK);
+	struct xfs_ifork	*ifp = XFS_IFORK_PTR(ip, whichfork);
 	xfs_fileoff_t		offset_fsb = XFS_B_TO_FSBT(mp, offset);
 	struct xfs_bmbt_irec	prev;
 	int			shift = 0;
@@ -593,7 +594,11 @@ xfs_file_iomap_begin_delay(
 	 * themselves.  Second the lookup in the extent list is generally faster
 	 * than going out to the shared extent tree.
 	 */
-	if (xfs_is_reflink_inode(ip)) {
+	if (xfs_is_cow_inode(ip)) {
+		if (!ip->i_cowfp) {
+			ASSERT(!xfs_is_reflink_inode(ip));
+			xfs_ifork_init_cow(ip);
+		}
 		cow_eof = !xfs_iext_lookup_extent(ip, ip->i_cowfp, offset_fsb,
 				&ccur, &cmap);
 		if (!cow_eof && cmap.br_startoff <= offset_fsb) {
@@ -609,7 +614,7 @@ xfs_file_iomap_begin_delay(
 		 * overwriting shared extents.   This includes zeroing of
 		 * existing extents that contain data.
 		 */
-		if (!xfs_is_reflink_inode(ip) ||
+		if (!xfs_is_cow_inode(ip) ||
 		    ((flags & IOMAP_ZERO) && imap.br_state != XFS_EXT_NORM)) {
 			trace_xfs_iomap_found(ip, offset, count, XFS_DATA_FORK,
 					&imap);
@@ -619,7 +624,7 @@ xfs_file_iomap_begin_delay(
 		xfs_trim_extent(&imap, offset_fsb, end_fsb - offset_fsb);
 
 		/* Trim the mapping to the nearest shared extent boundary. */
-		error = xfs_reflink_trim_around_shared(ip, &imap, &shared);
+		error = xfs_inode_need_cow(ip, &imap, &shared);
 		if (error)
 			goto out_unlock;
 
@@ -648,15 +653,18 @@ xfs_file_iomap_begin_delay(
 		 */
 		count = min_t(loff_t, count, 1024 * PAGE_SIZE);
 		end_fsb = min(XFS_B_TO_FSB(mp, offset + count), maxbytes_fsb);
+
+		if (xfs_is_always_cow_inode(ip))
+			whichfork = XFS_COW_FORK;
 	}
 
 	error = xfs_qm_dqattach_locked(ip, false);
 	if (error)
 		goto out_unlock;
 
-	if (eof && whichfork == XFS_DATA_FORK) {
-		prealloc_blocks = xfs_iomap_prealloc_size(ip, offset, count,
-				&icur);
+	if (eof) {
+		prealloc_blocks = xfs_iomap_prealloc_size(ip, whichfork, offset,
+				count, &icur);
 		if (prealloc_blocks) {
 			xfs_extlen_t	align;
 			xfs_off_t	end_offset;
@@ -867,7 +875,7 @@ xfs_ilock_for_iomap(
 	 * COW writes may allocate delalloc space or convert unwritten COW
 	 * extents, so we need to make sure to take the lock exclusively here.
 	 */
-	if (xfs_is_reflink_inode(ip) && is_write) {
+	if (xfs_is_cow_inode(ip) && is_write) {
 		/*
 		 * FIXME: It could still overwrite on unshared extents and not
 		 * need allocation.
@@ -901,7 +909,7 @@ relock:
 	 * check, so if we got ILOCK_SHARED for a write and but we're now a
 	 * reflink inode we have to switch to ILOCK_EXCL and relock.
 	 */
-	if (mode == XFS_ILOCK_SHARED && is_write && xfs_is_reflink_inode(ip)) {
+	if (mode == XFS_ILOCK_SHARED && is_write && xfs_is_cow_inode(ip)) {
 		xfs_iunlock(ip, mode);
 		mode = XFS_ILOCK_EXCL;
 		goto relock;
@@ -973,7 +981,7 @@ xfs_file_iomap_begin(
 	 * Break shared extents if necessary. Checks for non-blocking IO have
 	 * been done up front, so we don't need to do them here.
 	 */
-	if (xfs_is_reflink_inode(ip)) {
+	if (xfs_is_cow_inode(ip)) {
 		struct xfs_bmbt_irec	orig = imap;
 
 		/* if zeroing doesn't need COW allocation, then we are done. */
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_mount.h b/fs/xfs/xfs_mount.h
index 864ecf27aa75..110f927cf943 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_mount.h
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_mount.h
@@ -194,6 +194,7 @@ typedef struct xfs_mount {
 	 */
 	uint32_t		m_generation;
 
+	bool			m_always_cow;
 	bool			m_fail_unmount;
 #ifdef DEBUG
 	/*
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_reflink.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_reflink.c
index f84b37fa4f17..e2d9179bd50d 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_reflink.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_reflink.c
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ xfs_reflink_trim_around_shared(
 	int			error = 0;
 
 	/* Holes, unwritten, and delalloc extents cannot be shared */
-	if (!xfs_is_reflink_inode(ip) || !xfs_bmap_is_real_extent(irec)) {
+	if (!xfs_is_cow_inode(ip) || !xfs_bmap_is_real_extent(irec)) {
 		*shared = false;
 		return 0;
 	}
@@ -234,6 +234,23 @@ xfs_reflink_trim_around_shared(
 	}
 }
 
+bool
+xfs_inode_need_cow(
+	struct xfs_inode	*ip,
+	struct xfs_bmbt_irec	*imap,
+	bool			*shared)
+{
+	/* We can't update any real extents in always COW mode. */
+	if (xfs_is_always_cow_inode(ip) &&
+	    !isnullstartblock(imap->br_startblock)) {
+		*shared = true;
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	/* Trim the mapping to the nearest shared extent boundary. */
+	return xfs_reflink_trim_around_shared(ip, imap, shared);
+}
+
 static int
 xfs_reflink_convert_cow_locked(
 	struct xfs_inode	*ip,
@@ -321,7 +338,7 @@ xfs_find_trim_cow_extent(
 	if (got.br_startoff > offset_fsb) {
 		xfs_trim_extent(imap, imap->br_startoff,
 				got.br_startoff - imap->br_startoff);
-		return xfs_reflink_trim_around_shared(ip, imap, shared);
+		return xfs_inode_need_cow(ip, imap, shared);
 	}
 
 	*shared = true;
@@ -356,7 +373,10 @@ xfs_reflink_allocate_cow(
 	xfs_extlen_t		resblks = 0;
 
 	ASSERT(xfs_isilocked(ip, XFS_ILOCK_EXCL));
-	ASSERT(xfs_is_reflink_inode(ip));
+	if (!ip->i_cowfp) {
+		ASSERT(!xfs_is_reflink_inode(ip));
+		xfs_ifork_init_cow(ip);
+	}
 
 	error = xfs_find_trim_cow_extent(ip, imap, shared, &found);
 	if (error || !*shared)
@@ -542,7 +562,7 @@ xfs_reflink_cancel_cow_range(
 	int			error;
 
 	trace_xfs_reflink_cancel_cow_range(ip, offset, count);
-	ASSERT(xfs_is_reflink_inode(ip));
+	ASSERT(ip->i_cowfp);
 
 	offset_fsb = XFS_B_TO_FSBT(ip->i_mount, offset);
 	if (count == NULLFILEOFF)
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_reflink.h b/fs/xfs/xfs_reflink.h
index 4a9e3cd4768a..2a3052fbe23e 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_reflink.h
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_reflink.h
@@ -6,11 +6,24 @@
 #ifndef __XFS_REFLINK_H
 #define __XFS_REFLINK_H 1
 
+static inline bool xfs_is_always_cow_inode(struct xfs_inode *ip)
+{
+	return ip->i_mount->m_always_cow &&
+		xfs_sb_version_hasreflink(&ip->i_mount->m_sb);
+}
+
+static inline bool xfs_is_cow_inode(struct xfs_inode *ip)
+{
+	return xfs_is_reflink_inode(ip) || xfs_is_always_cow_inode(ip);
+}
+
 extern int xfs_reflink_find_shared(struct xfs_mount *mp, struct xfs_trans *tp,
 		xfs_agnumber_t agno, xfs_agblock_t agbno, xfs_extlen_t aglen,
 		xfs_agblock_t *fbno, xfs_extlen_t *flen, bool find_maximal);
 extern int xfs_reflink_trim_around_shared(struct xfs_inode *ip,
 		struct xfs_bmbt_irec *irec, bool *shared);
+bool xfs_inode_need_cow(struct xfs_inode *ip, struct xfs_bmbt_irec *imap,
+		bool *shared);
 
 extern int xfs_reflink_allocate_cow(struct xfs_inode *ip,
 		struct xfs_bmbt_irec *imap, bool *shared, uint *lockmode,
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_super.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_super.c
index 08033ac040d6..f093ea244849 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_super.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_super.c
@@ -1736,11 +1736,18 @@ xfs_fs_fill_super(
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (xfs_sb_version_hasreflink(&mp->m_sb) && mp->m_sb.sb_rblocks) {
-		xfs_alert(mp,
+	if (xfs_sb_version_hasreflink(&mp->m_sb)) {
+		if (mp->m_sb.sb_rblocks) {
+			xfs_alert(mp,
 	"reflink not compatible with realtime device!");
-		error = -EINVAL;
-		goto out_filestream_unmount;
+			error = -EINVAL;
+			goto out_filestream_unmount;
+		}
+
+		if (xfs_globals.always_cow) {
+			xfs_info(mp, "using DEBUG-only always_cow mode.");
+			mp->m_always_cow = true;
+		}
 	}
 
 	if (xfs_sb_version_hasrmapbt(&mp->m_sb) && mp->m_sb.sb_rblocks) {
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_sysctl.h b/fs/xfs/xfs_sysctl.h
index 168488130a19..ad7f9be13087 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_sysctl.h
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_sysctl.h
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ struct xfs_globals {
 	int	log_recovery_delay;	/* log recovery delay (secs) */
 	int	mount_delay;		/* mount setup delay (secs) */
 	bool	bug_on_assert;		/* BUG() the kernel on assert failure */
+	bool	always_cow;		/* use COW fork for all overwrites */
 };
 extern struct xfs_globals	xfs_globals;
 
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_sysfs.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_sysfs.c
index cd6a994a7250..cabda13f3c64 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_sysfs.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_sysfs.c
@@ -183,10 +183,34 @@ mount_delay_show(
 }
 XFS_SYSFS_ATTR_RW(mount_delay);
 
+static ssize_t
+always_cow_store(
+	struct kobject	*kobject,
+	const char	*buf,
+	size_t		count)
+{
+	ssize_t		ret;
+
+	ret = kstrtobool(buf, &xfs_globals.always_cow);
+	if (ret < 0)
+		return ret;
+	return count;
+}
+
+static ssize_t
+always_cow_show(
+	struct kobject	*kobject,
+	char		*buf)
+{
+	return snprintf(buf, PAGE_SIZE, "%d\n", xfs_globals.always_cow);
+}
+XFS_SYSFS_ATTR_RW(always_cow);
+
 static struct attribute *xfs_dbg_attrs[] = {
 	ATTR_LIST(bug_on_assert),
 	ATTR_LIST(log_recovery_delay),
 	ATTR_LIST(mount_delay),
+	ATTR_LIST(always_cow),
 	NULL,
 };