diff --git a/fs/bcachefs/alloc_background.c b/fs/bcachefs/alloc_background.c
index 17bcebbd1f2a..23de3ecc6a1e 100644
--- a/fs/bcachefs/alloc_background.c
+++ b/fs/bcachefs/alloc_background.c
@@ -1760,7 +1760,7 @@ static void bch2_do_discards_work(struct work_struct *work)
 void bch2_do_discards(struct bch_fs *c)
 {
 	if (bch2_write_ref_tryget(c, BCH_WRITE_REF_discard) &&
-	    !queue_work(system_long_wq, &c->discard_work))
+	    !queue_work(c->write_ref_wq, &c->discard_work))
 		bch2_write_ref_put(c, BCH_WRITE_REF_discard);
 }
 
@@ -1886,7 +1886,7 @@ err:
 void bch2_do_invalidates(struct bch_fs *c)
 {
 	if (bch2_write_ref_tryget(c, BCH_WRITE_REF_invalidate) &&
-	    !queue_work(system_long_wq, &c->invalidate_work))
+	    !queue_work(c->write_ref_wq, &c->invalidate_work))
 		bch2_write_ref_put(c, BCH_WRITE_REF_invalidate);
 }
 
diff --git a/fs/bcachefs/bcachefs.h b/fs/bcachefs/bcachefs.h
index c1f27b4910a0..fcbbc88d77c2 100644
--- a/fs/bcachefs/bcachefs.h
+++ b/fs/bcachefs/bcachefs.h
@@ -808,6 +808,12 @@ struct bch_fs {
 	struct workqueue_struct	*btree_io_complete_wq;
 	/* copygc needs its own workqueue for index updates.. */
 	struct workqueue_struct	*copygc_wq;
+	/*
+	 * Use a dedicated wq for write ref holder tasks. Required to avoid
+	 * dependency problems with other wq tasks that can block on ref
+	 * draining, such as read-only transition.
+	 */
+	struct workqueue_struct *write_ref_wq;
 
 	/* ALLOCATION */
 	struct bch_devs_mask	rw_devs[BCH_DATA_NR];
diff --git a/fs/bcachefs/ec.c b/fs/bcachefs/ec.c
index 1e621dcc1d37..a444f6d513e5 100644
--- a/fs/bcachefs/ec.c
+++ b/fs/bcachefs/ec.c
@@ -826,7 +826,7 @@ static void ec_stripe_delete_work(struct work_struct *work)
 void bch2_do_stripe_deletes(struct bch_fs *c)
 {
 	if (bch2_write_ref_tryget(c, BCH_WRITE_REF_stripe_delete) &&
-	    !schedule_work(&c->ec_stripe_delete_work))
+	    !queue_work(c->write_ref_wq, &c->ec_stripe_delete_work))
 		bch2_write_ref_put(c, BCH_WRITE_REF_stripe_delete);
 }
 
diff --git a/fs/bcachefs/subvolume.c b/fs/bcachefs/subvolume.c
index 43d83705a7ae..6407d19edc0e 100644
--- a/fs/bcachefs/subvolume.c
+++ b/fs/bcachefs/subvolume.c
@@ -714,7 +714,7 @@ static void bch2_delete_dead_snapshots_work(struct work_struct *work)
 void bch2_delete_dead_snapshots_async(struct bch_fs *c)
 {
 	if (bch2_write_ref_tryget(c, BCH_WRITE_REF_delete_dead_snapshots) &&
-	    !queue_work(system_long_wq, &c->snapshot_delete_work))
+	    !queue_work(c->write_ref_wq, &c->snapshot_delete_work))
 		bch2_write_ref_put(c, BCH_WRITE_REF_delete_dead_snapshots);
 }
 
@@ -926,7 +926,7 @@ int bch2_subvolume_wait_for_pagecache_and_delete_hook(struct btree_trans *trans,
 	if (!bch2_write_ref_tryget(c, BCH_WRITE_REF_snapshot_delete_pagecache))
 		return -EROFS;
 
-	if (!queue_work(system_long_wq, &c->snapshot_wait_for_pagecache_and_delete_work))
+	if (!queue_work(c->write_ref_wq, &c->snapshot_wait_for_pagecache_and_delete_work))
 		bch2_write_ref_put(c, BCH_WRITE_REF_snapshot_delete_pagecache);
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/fs/bcachefs/super.c b/fs/bcachefs/super.c
index d6f2f453c027..a209de24064c 100644
--- a/fs/bcachefs/super.c
+++ b/fs/bcachefs/super.c
@@ -493,6 +493,8 @@ static void __bch2_fs_free(struct bch_fs *c)
 	kfree(c->journal_seq_blacklist_table);
 	kfree(c->unused_inode_hints);
 
+	if (c->write_ref_wq)
+		destroy_workqueue(c->write_ref_wq);
 	if (c->io_complete_wq)
 		destroy_workqueue(c->io_complete_wq);
 	if (c->copygc_wq)
@@ -787,6 +789,8 @@ static struct bch_fs *bch2_fs_alloc(struct bch_sb *sb, struct bch_opts opts)
 				WQ_FREEZABLE|WQ_MEM_RECLAIM|WQ_CPU_INTENSIVE, 1)) ||
 	    !(c->io_complete_wq = alloc_workqueue("bcachefs_io",
 				WQ_FREEZABLE|WQ_HIGHPRI|WQ_MEM_RECLAIM, 1)) ||
+	    !(c->write_ref_wq = alloc_workqueue("bcachefs_write_ref",
+				WQ_FREEZABLE, 0)) ||
 #ifndef BCH_WRITE_REF_DEBUG
 	    percpu_ref_init(&c->writes, bch2_writes_disabled,
 			    PERCPU_REF_INIT_DEAD, GFP_KERNEL) ||