diff --git a/NEWS.markdown b/NEWS.markdown
index ee1dc7e..6fd8a81 100644
--- a/NEWS.markdown
+++ b/NEWS.markdown
@@ -23,6 +23,11 @@ Bug Fixes
   Thanks Santiago Vila for the bug report and patch! (Closes Debian
   bug report #764625)
 * Fixes typo found by Lintian.
+* Work around LVM related race condition when using --force with LVM:
+  If an "lvremove" is immediately followed by an "lvcreate" for an LV
+  with the same name, "mkswap" (and maybe other commands) occasionally
+  fail with "Device or resource busy". Work around it by using sync
+  and sleep.
 
 Distribution Releases Changes
 -----------------------------
diff --git a/bin/xen-create-image b/bin/xen-create-image
index 3c77856..be1b7dc 100755
--- a/bin/xen-create-image
+++ b/bin/xen-create-image
@@ -3066,6 +3066,10 @@ sub createLVMBits
                     logprint(
                         "Removing $lvm_disk - since we're forcing the install\n");
                     runCommand("lvremove --force $lvm_disk", \%CONFIG);
+                    runCommand("sync", \%CONFIG);
+                    logprint(
+                        "Sleeping a few seconds to avoid LVM race conditions...\n");
+                    sleep(3);
                 } else {
                     fail("ERROR: Xen guest $CONFIG{'hostname'} appears to be running.\nAborting.\n");
                 }
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index d1742a9..05d5dc3 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ xen-tools (4.6.3~dev-1) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
     + Support situations where distributions (e.g. Squeeze) might be EoL,
       but its archive signing key is still not removed from the default
       keyring.
+    + Workaround LVM related race condition when using --force with LVM.
   * Declare compliance with Debian Policy 3.9.8. (No changes needed.)
   * Use NEWS.markdown as upstream changelog, don't install it as docs.
   * Switch many URLs (upstream and in packaging) to https:// and update