diff --git a/HISTORY b/HISTORY
index 7e0cead2..20cf4ba5 100644
--- a/HISTORY
+++ b/HISTORY
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 SnapRAID HISTORY
 ================
 
-11.3 2018/01 (WIP)
+11.3 2018/06 (WIP)
 ==================
  * Fixed handing of Linux devices that have multiple slaves. This affects
    the smart/list/devices/down commands [Valentin Hilbig].
  * The 'list' command in verbose mode prints the full nanosecond
    timestamp precision.
+ * After writing content files also sync their directory.
 
 11.2 2017/12
 ============
diff --git a/cmdline/mkstream.c b/cmdline/mkstream.c
index 8f852bd6..5a2f804c 100644
--- a/cmdline/mkstream.c
+++ b/cmdline/mkstream.c
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ void test(void)
 	s = sopen_multi_write(STREAM_MAX);
 	for (i = 0; i < STREAM_MAX; ++i) {
 		snprintf(file, sizeof(file), "stream%u.bin", i);
+		remove(file);
 		if (sopen_multi_file(s, i, file) != 0) {
 			/* LCOV_EXCL_START */
 			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
diff --git a/cmdline/state.c b/cmdline/state.c
index cff523ee..26477bcd 100644
--- a/cmdline/state.c
+++ b/cmdline/state.c
@@ -3434,10 +3434,21 @@ static void state_write_content(struct snapraid_state* state, uint32_t* out_crc)
 		msg_progress("Saving state to %s...\n", content->content);
 
 		pathprint(tmp, sizeof(tmp), "%s.tmp", content->content);
+
+		/* ensure to delete a previous stale file */
+		if (remove(tmp) != 0) {
+			if (errno != ENOENT) {
+				/* LCOV_EXCL_START */
+				log_fatal("Error removing the stale content file '%s'. %s.\n", tmp, strerror(errno));
+				exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+				/* LCOV_EXCL_STOP */
+			}
+		}
+
 		f = sopen_write(tmp);
 		if (f == 0) {
 			/* LCOV_EXCL_START */
-			log_fatal("Error opening the content file '%s'. %s.\n", tmp, strerror(errno));
+			log_fatal("Error opening the temporary content file '%s'. %s.\n", tmp, strerror(errno));
 			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 			/* LCOV_EXCL_STOP */
 		}
@@ -3562,12 +3573,24 @@ static void state_write_content(struct snapraid_state* state, uint32_t* out_crc)
 		struct snapraid_content* content = i->data;
 		char tmp[PATH_MAX];
 		pathprint(tmp, sizeof(tmp), "%s.tmp", content->content);
+
+		/* ensure to delete a previous stale file */
+		if (remove(tmp) != 0) {
+			if (errno != ENOENT) {
+				/* LCOV_EXCL_START */
+				log_fatal("Error removing the stale content file '%s'. %s.\n", tmp, strerror(errno));
+				exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+				/* LCOV_EXCL_STOP */
+			}
+		}
+
 		if (sopen_multi_file(f, k, tmp) != 0) {
 			/* LCOV_EXCL_START */
-			log_fatal("Error opening the content file '%s'. %s.\n", tmp, strerror(errno));
+			log_fatal("Error opening the temporary content file '%s'. %s.\n", tmp, strerror(errno));
 			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 			/* LCOV_EXCL_STOP */
 		}
+
 		++k;
 		i = i->next;
 	}
@@ -3851,11 +3874,10 @@ static void state_verify_content(struct snapraid_state* state, uint32_t crc)
 		msg_progress("Verifying %s...\n", content->content);
 
 		pathprint(tmp, sizeof(tmp), "%s.tmp", content->content);
-
 		f = sopen_read(tmp);
 		if (f == 0) {
 			/* LCOV_EXCL_START */
-			log_fatal("Error reopening the content file '%s'. %s.\n", tmp, strerror(errno));
+			log_fatal("Error reopening the temporary content file '%s'. %s.\n", tmp, strerror(errno));
 			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 			/* LCOV_EXCL_STOP */
 		}
@@ -3924,6 +3946,59 @@ static void state_rename_content(struct snapraid_state* state)
 {
 	tommy_node* i;
 
+#if defined(_linux) /* this sequence is linux specific */
+	i = tommy_list_head(&state->contentlist);
+	while (i) {
+		struct snapraid_content* content = i->data;
+		char tmp[PATH_MAX];
+		char dir[PATH_MAX];
+		char* slash;
+		int handle;
+
+		pathcpy(dir, sizeof(dir), content->content);
+
+		slash = strrchr(tmp, '/');
+		if (slash)
+			*slash = 0;
+		else
+			pathcpy(dir, sizeof(dir), ".");
+
+		/* open the directory to get the handle */
+		handle = open(dir, O_RDONLY | O_DIRECTORY);
+		if (handle < 0) {
+			/* LCOV_EXCL_START */
+			log_fatal("Error opening the directory '%s'. %s.\n", dir, strerror(errno));
+			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+			/* LCOV_EXCL_STOP */
+		}
+
+		/* now rename the just written copy with the correct name */
+		pathprint(tmp, sizeof(tmp), "%s.tmp", content->content);
+		if (rename(tmp, content->content) != 0) {
+			/* LCOV_EXCL_START */
+			log_fatal("Error renaming the content file '%s' to '%s'. %s.\n", tmp, content->content, strerror(errno));
+			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+			/* LCOV_EXCL_STOP */
+		}
+
+		/* sync the directory */
+		if (fsync(handle) != 0) {
+			/* LCOV_EXCL_START */
+			log_fatal("Error syncing the directory '%s'. %s.\n", dir, strerror(errno));
+			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+			/* LCOV_EXCL_STOP */
+		}
+
+		if (close(handle) != 0) {
+			/* LCOV_EXCL_START */
+			log_fatal("Error closing the directory '%s'. %s.\n", dir, strerror(errno));
+			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+			/* LCOV_EXCL_STOP */
+		}
+
+		i = i->next;
+	}
+#else
 	i = tommy_list_head(&state->contentlist);
 	while (i) {
 		struct snapraid_content* content = i->data;
@@ -3940,6 +4015,7 @@ static void state_rename_content(struct snapraid_state* state)
 
 		i = i->next;
 	}
+#endif
 }
 
 void state_write(struct snapraid_state* state)
diff --git a/cmdline/stream.c b/cmdline/stream.c
index eeac1311..b7bb2eb8 100644
--- a/cmdline/stream.c
+++ b/cmdline/stream.c
@@ -112,7 +112,8 @@ int sopen_multi_file(STREAM* s, unsigned i, const char* file)
 
 	pathcpy(s->handle[i].path, sizeof(s->handle[i].path), file);
 
-	f = open(file, O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_TRUNC | O_BINARY | O_SEQUENTIAL, 0600);
+	/* O_EXCL to be resilent ensure to always create a new file and not use a stale link to the original file */
+	f = open(file, O_WRONLY | O_CREAT | O_EXCL | O_BINARY | O_SEQUENTIAL, 0600);
 	if (f == -1) {
 		/* LCOV_EXCL_START */
 		return -1;
diff --git a/cmdline/support.h b/cmdline/support.h
index 9cdf220e..3b75b383 100644
--- a/cmdline/support.h
+++ b/cmdline/support.h
@@ -299,6 +299,8 @@ void pathslash(char* dst, size_t size);
 
 /**
  * Cut everything after the latest slash.
+ *
+ * If the string doesn't contain any slash, it returns the empty string.
  */
 void pathcut(char* dst);