diff --git a/fs/namespace.c b/fs/namespace.c
index 06f8e63..f0e7530 100644
--- a/fs/namespace.c
+++ b/fs/namespace.c
@@ -780,6 +780,7 @@ static void show_mnt_opts(struct seq_file *m, struct vfsmount *mnt)
 		{ MNT_NOATIME, ",noatime" },
 		{ MNT_NODIRATIME, ",nodiratime" },
 		{ MNT_RELATIME, ",relatime" },
+		{ MNT_STRICTATIME, ",strictatime" },
 		{ 0, NULL }
 	};
 	const struct proc_fs_info *fs_infop;
@@ -1919,6 +1920,9 @@ long do_mount(char *dev_name, char *dir_name, char *type_page,
 	if (data_page)
 		((char *)data_page)[PAGE_SIZE - 1] = 0;
 
+	/* Default to relatime */
+	mnt_flags |= MNT_RELATIME;
+
 	/* Separate the per-mountpoint flags */
 	if (flags & MS_NOSUID)
 		mnt_flags |= MNT_NOSUID;
@@ -1930,13 +1934,14 @@ long do_mount(char *dev_name, char *dir_name, char *type_page,
 		mnt_flags |= MNT_NOATIME;
 	if (flags & MS_NODIRATIME)
 		mnt_flags |= MNT_NODIRATIME;
-	if (flags & MS_RELATIME)
-		mnt_flags |= MNT_RELATIME;
+	if (flags & MS_STRICTATIME)
+		mnt_flags &= ~(MNT_RELATIME | MNT_NOATIME);
 	if (flags & MS_RDONLY)
 		mnt_flags |= MNT_READONLY;
 
 	flags &= ~(MS_NOSUID | MS_NOEXEC | MS_NODEV | MS_ACTIVE |
-		   MS_NOATIME | MS_NODIRATIME | MS_RELATIME| MS_KERNMOUNT);
+		   MS_NOATIME | MS_NODIRATIME | MS_RELATIME| MS_KERNMOUNT |
+		   MS_STRICTATIME);
 
 	/* ... and get the mountpoint */
 	retval = kern_path(dir_name, LOOKUP_FOLLOW, &path);
diff --git a/include/linux/fs.h b/include/linux/fs.h
index 92734c0..5bc81c4 100644
--- a/include/linux/fs.h
+++ b/include/linux/fs.h
@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@ struct inodes_stat_t {
 #define MS_RELATIME	(1<<21)	/* Update atime relative to mtime/ctime. */
 #define MS_KERNMOUNT	(1<<22) /* this is a kern_mount call */
 #define MS_I_VERSION	(1<<23) /* Update inode I_version field */
+#define MS_STRICTATIME	(1<<24) /* Always perform atime updates */
 #define MS_ACTIVE	(1<<30)
 #define MS_NOUSER	(1<<31)
 
diff --git a/include/linux/mount.h b/include/linux/mount.h
index cab2a85..51f55f9 100644
--- a/include/linux/mount.h
+++ b/include/linux/mount.h
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ struct mnt_namespace;
 #define MNT_NODIRATIME	0x10
 #define MNT_RELATIME	0x20
 #define MNT_READONLY	0x40	/* does the user want this to be r/o? */
+#define MNT_STRICTATIME 0x80
 
 #define MNT_SHRINKABLE	0x100
 #define MNT_IMBALANCED_WRITE_COUNT	0x200 /* just for debugging */
--- a/fs/inode.c
+++ b/fs/inode.c
@@ -1290,6 +1290,40 @@ sector_t bmap(struct inode * inode, sector_t block)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(bmap);
 
+/*
+ * With relative atime, only update atime if the previous atime is
+ * earlier than either the ctime or mtime or if at least a day has
+ * passed since the last atime update.
+ */
+static int relatime_need_update(struct vfsmount *mnt, struct inode *inode,
+			     struct timespec now)
+{
+
+	if (!(mnt->mnt_flags & MNT_RELATIME))
+		return 1;
+	/*
+	 * Is mtime younger than atime? If yes, update atime:
+	 */
+	if (timespec_compare(&inode->i_mtime, &inode->i_atime) >= 0)
+		return 1;
+	/*
+	 * Is ctime younger than atime? If yes, update atime:
+	 */
+	if (timespec_compare(&inode->i_ctime, &inode->i_atime) >= 0)
+		return 1;
+
+	/*
+	 * Is the previous atime value older than a day? If yes,
+	 * update atime:
+	 */
+	if ((long)(now.tv_sec - inode->i_atime.tv_sec) >= 24*60*60)
+		return 1;
+	/*
+	 * Good, we can skip the atime update:
+	 */
+	return 0;
+}
+
 /**
  *	touch_atime	-	update the access time
  *	@mnt: mount the inode is accessed on
@@ -1317,17 +1351,12 @@ void touch_atime(struct vfsmount *mnt, struct dentry *dentry)
 		goto out;
 	if ((mnt->mnt_flags & MNT_NODIRATIME) && S_ISDIR(inode->i_mode))
 		goto out;
-	if (mnt->mnt_flags & MNT_RELATIME) {
-		/*
-		 * With relative atime, only update atime if the previous
-		 * atime is earlier than either the ctime or mtime.
-		 */
-		if (timespec_compare(&inode->i_mtime, &inode->i_atime) < 0 &&
-		    timespec_compare(&inode->i_ctime, &inode->i_atime) < 0)
-			goto out;
-	}
 
 	now = current_fs_time(inode->i_sb);
+
+	if (!relatime_need_update(mnt, inode, now))
+		goto out;
+
 	if (timespec_equal(&inode->i_atime, &now))
 		goto out;