diff --git a/068 b/068
index 82c1a4e..b9ac58d 100755
--- a/068
+++ b/068
@@ -101,6 +101,11 @@ do
 	    tee -a $seq.full
 	sleep 2
 
+	# there should be nothing to sync at this point. This may hang in case
+	# of fsstress background writes dirtying the page cache while the F.S is frozen
+	sync &
+	sleep 2
+
 	echo "*** thawing  \$SCRATCH_MNT" | tee -a $seq.full
 	xfs_freeze -u "$SCRATCH_MNT" | tee -a $seq.full
 	[ $? != 0 ] && echo xfs_freeze -u "$SCRATCH_MNT" failed | \