diff --git a/go/store/nbs/journal_writer.go b/go/store/nbs/journal_writer.go
index f18c1eda00..a0d0a3b01b 100644
--- a/go/store/nbs/journal_writer.go
+++ b/go/store/nbs/journal_writer.go
@@ -45,6 +45,10 @@ const (
 	// journalIndexDefaultMaxNovel determines how often we flush
 	// records qto the out-of-band journal index file.
 	journalIndexDefaultMaxNovel = 16384
+
+	// journalMaybeSyncThreshold determines how much un-syncd written data
+	// can be outstanding to the journal before we will sync it.
+	journalMaybeSyncThreshold = 64 * 1024 * 1024
 )
 
 var (
@@ -151,6 +155,9 @@ type journalWriter struct {
 	path    string
 	uncmpSz uint64
 
+	unsyncd     uint64
+	currentRoot hash.Hash
+
 	ranges   rangeIndex
 	index    *os.File
 	maxNovel int
@@ -286,6 +293,8 @@ func (wr *journalWriter) bootstrapJournal(ctx context.Context, reflogRingBuffer
 		return hash.Hash{}, err
 	}
 
+	wr.currentRoot = last
+
 	return
 }
 
@@ -354,8 +363,29 @@ func (wr *journalWriter) writeCompressedChunk(cc CompressedChunk) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	wr.unsyncd += uint64(recordLen)
 	_ = writeChunkRecord(buf, cc)
 	wr.ranges.put(addr(cc.H), rng)
+
+	// To fulfill our durability guarantees, we technically only need to
+	// file.Sync() the journal when we commit a new root chunk. However,
+	// allowing an unbounded amount of unflushed dirty pages to accumulate
+	// in the OS's page cache makes it possible for small writes which come
+	// along during a large non-committing write to block on flushing all
+	// of the unflushed data. To minimize interference from large
+	// non-committing writes, we cap the amount of unflushed data here.
+	//
+	// We go through |commitRootHash|, instead of directly |Sync()|ing the
+	// file, because we also have accumulating delayed work in the form of
+	// journal index records which may need to be serialized and flushed.
+	// Assumptions in journal bootstraping and the contents of the journal
+	// index require us to have a newly written root hash record anytime we
+	// write index records out. It's perfectly fine to reuse the current
+	// root hash, and this will also take care of the |Sync|.
+	if wr.unsyncd > journalMaybeSyncThreshold && !wr.currentRoot.IsEmpty() {
+		return wr.commitRootHashUnlocked(wr.currentRoot)
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -363,11 +393,15 @@ func (wr *journalWriter) writeCompressedChunk(cc CompressedChunk) error {
 func (wr *journalWriter) commitRootHash(root hash.Hash) error {
 	wr.lock.Lock()
 	defer wr.lock.Unlock()
+	return wr.commitRootHashUnlocked(root)
+}
 
+func (wr *journalWriter) commitRootHashUnlocked(root hash.Hash) error {
 	buf, err := wr.getBytes(rootHashRecordSize())
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	wr.currentRoot = root
 	n := writeRootHashRecord(buf, addr(root))
 	if err = wr.flush(); err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -375,6 +409,7 @@ func (wr *journalWriter) commitRootHash(root hash.Hash) error {
 	if err = wr.journal.Sync(); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	wr.unsyncd = 0
 	if wr.ranges.novelCount() > wr.maxNovel {
 		o := wr.offset() - int64(n) // pre-commit journal offset
 		err = wr.flushIndexRecord(root, o)