diff --git a/category/async/storage_pool.cpp b/category/async/storage_pool.cpp
index 3422fa6f8..6a3d72009 100644
--- a/category/async/storage_pool.cpp
+++ b/category/async/storage_pool.cpp
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ storage_pool::device storage_pool::make_device_(
             path.c_str(),
             ((flags.open_read_only || flags.open_read_only_allow_dirty)
                  ? O_RDONLY
-                 : O_RDWR) |
+                 : (O_RDWR | O_DSYNC)) |
                 O_CLOEXEC);
         MONAD_ASSERT_PRINTF(
             readwritefd != -1, "open failed due to %s", std::strerror(errno));
diff --git a/category/execution/ethereum/db/util.cpp b/category/execution/ethereum/db/util.cpp
index 00beb7f5d..0f0737ee2 100644
--- a/category/execution/ethereum/db/util.cpp
+++ b/category/execution/ethereum/db/util.cpp
@@ -632,7 +632,7 @@ std::unique_ptr<StateMachine> InMemoryMachine::clone() const
 bool OnDiskMachine::cache() const
 {
     constexpr uint64_t CACHE_DEPTH_IN_TABLE = 5;
-    return table == TableType::Prefix ||
+    return table == TableType::Prefix || depth <= prefix_len() + 1 ||
            ((depth <= prefix_len() + CACHE_DEPTH_IN_TABLE) &&
             (table == TableType::State || table == TableType::Code ||
              table == TableType::TxHash || table == TableType::BlockHash));
diff --git a/category/mpt/trie.cpp b/category/mpt/trie.cpp
index b861dbb90..a03343c25 100644
--- a/category/mpt/trie.cpp
+++ b/category/mpt/trie.cpp
@@ -168,10 +168,7 @@ Node::SharedPtr upsert(
         auto root = entry.ptr;
         if (aux.is_on_disk() && root) {
             if (write_root) {
-                write_new_root_node(aux, *root, version);
-            }
-            else {
-                flush_buffered_writes(aux);
+                write_new_root_node(aux, *root, version); // this flushes writes
             }
         }
         return root;