diff --git a/refs/reftable-backend.c b/refs/reftable-backend.c
index b124404663..daea30a5b4 100644
--- a/refs/reftable-backend.c
+++ b/refs/reftable-backend.c
@@ -366,11 +366,6 @@ static int reftable_be_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static int reftable_be_fsync(int fd)
-{
-	return fsync_component(FSYNC_COMPONENT_REFERENCE, fd);
-}
-
 static struct ref_store *reftable_be_init(struct repository *repo,
 					  const char *payload,
 					  const char *gitdir,
@@ -408,7 +403,6 @@ static struct ref_store *reftable_be_init(struct repository *repo,
 	refs->write_options.disable_auto_compact =
 		!git_env_bool("GIT_TEST_REFTABLE_AUTOCOMPACTION", 1);
 	refs->write_options.lock_timeout_ms = 100;
-	refs->write_options.fsync = reftable_be_fsync;
 
 	repo_config(the_repository, reftable_be_config, &refs->write_options);
 
diff --git a/reftable/reftable-system.h b/reftable/reftable-system.h
index 4a18a6a790..76f3e33e90 100644
--- a/reftable/reftable-system.h
+++ b/reftable/reftable-system.h
@@ -12,4 +12,7 @@
 #include "compat/posix.h"
 #include "compat/zlib-compat.h"
 
+int reftable_fsync(int fd);
+#define fsync(fd) reftable_fsync(fd)
+
 #endif
diff --git a/reftable/reftable-writer.h b/reftable/reftable-writer.h
index 065dd93dc6..a66db415c8 100644
--- a/reftable/reftable-writer.h
+++ b/reftable/reftable-writer.h
@@ -61,12 +61,6 @@ struct reftable_write_options {
 	 */
 	long lock_timeout_ms;
 
-	/*
-	 * Optional callback used to fsync files to disk. Falls back to using
-	 * fsync(3P) when unset.
-	 */
-	int (*fsync)(int fd);
-
 	/*
 	 * Callback function to execute whenever the stack is being reloaded.
 	 * This can be used e.g. to discard cached information that relies on
diff --git a/reftable/stack.c b/reftable/stack.c
index 1c9f21dfe1..fa87b46c37 100644
--- a/reftable/stack.c
+++ b/reftable/stack.c
@@ -29,13 +29,6 @@ static int stack_filename(struct reftable_buf *dest, struct reftable_stack *st,
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static int stack_fsync(const struct reftable_write_options *opts, int fd)
-{
-	if (opts->fsync)
-		return opts->fsync(fd);
-	return fsync(fd);
-}
-
 static ssize_t reftable_write_data(int fd, const void *data, size_t size)
 {
 	size_t total_written = 0;
@@ -69,7 +62,7 @@ static ssize_t fd_writer_write(void *arg, const void *data, size_t sz)
 static int fd_writer_flush(void *arg)
 {
 	struct fd_writer *writer = arg;
-	return stack_fsync(writer->opts, writer->fd);
+	return fsync(writer->fd);
 }
 
 static int fd_read_lines(int fd, char ***namesp)
@@ -812,7 +805,7 @@ int reftable_addition_commit(struct reftable_addition *add)
 		goto done;
 	}
 
-	err = stack_fsync(&add->stack->opts, add->tables_list_lock.fd);
+	err = fsync(add->tables_list_lock.fd);
 	if (err < 0) {
 		err = REFTABLE_IO_ERROR;
 		goto done;
@@ -1480,7 +1473,7 @@ static int stack_compact_range(struct reftable_stack *st,
 		goto done;
 	}
 
-	err = stack_fsync(&st->opts, tables_list_lock.fd);
+	err = fsync(tables_list_lock.fd);
 	if (err < 0) {
 		err = REFTABLE_IO_ERROR;
 		unlink(new_table_path.buf);
diff --git a/reftable/system.c b/reftable/system.c
index 725a25844e..4d7e366b55 100644
--- a/reftable/system.c
+++ b/reftable/system.c
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include "reftable-error.h"
 #include "../lockfile.h"
 #include "../tempfile.h"
+#include "../write-or-die.h"
 
 uint32_t reftable_rand(void)
 {
@@ -131,3 +132,8 @@ int flock_commit(struct reftable_flock *l)
 
 	return 0;
 }
+
+int reftable_fsync(int fd)
+{
+	return fsync_component(FSYNC_COMPONENT_REFERENCE, fd);
+}