diff --git a/fs/fs-writeback.c b/fs/fs-writeback.c
index 05713a5da083..ef600591d96f 100644
--- a/fs/fs-writeback.c
+++ b/fs/fs-writeback.c
@@ -1769,15 +1769,13 @@ static long wb_writeback(struct bdi_writeback *wb,
 		 * become available for writeback. Otherwise
 		 * we'll just busyloop.
 		 */
-		if (!list_empty(&wb->b_more_io))  {
-			trace_writeback_wait(wb, work);
-			inode = wb_inode(wb->b_more_io.prev);
-			spin_lock(&inode->i_lock);
-			spin_unlock(&wb->list_lock);
-			/* This function drops i_lock... */
-			inode_sleep_on_writeback(inode);
-			spin_lock(&wb->list_lock);
-		}
+		trace_writeback_wait(wb, work);
+		inode = wb_inode(wb->b_more_io.prev);
+		spin_lock(&inode->i_lock);
+		spin_unlock(&wb->list_lock);
+		/* This function drops i_lock... */
+		inode_sleep_on_writeback(inode);
+		spin_lock(&wb->list_lock);
 	}
 	spin_unlock(&wb->list_lock);
 	blk_finish_plug(&plug);