diff --git a/geode-core/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/internal/cache/DiskInitFile.java b/geode-core/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/internal/cache/DiskInitFile.java
index c6baad2ce398..8087b518bbe4 100644
--- a/geode-core/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/internal/cache/DiskInitFile.java
+++ b/geode-core/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/internal/cache/DiskInitFile.java
@@ -1410,9 +1410,14 @@ private void compact() {
         boolean success = false;
         try {
           // create the new file
-          openRAF();
+          openRAF(true);
           // fill the new file with data
           writeLiveData();
+
+          if (shouldCloseAndReopenRAF()) {
+            ifRAF.close();
+            openRAF(false);
+          }
           success = true;
 
           // delete the old file
@@ -1424,6 +1429,10 @@ private void compact() {
           if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
             logger.debug("Exception compacting init file {}", this, e);
           }
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+          if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
+            logger.debug("Exception when closing init file {}", this, e);
+          }
         } finally {
           if (!success) {
             // if we failed
@@ -1440,7 +1449,7 @@ private void compact() {
                   "could not rename file " + tmpFile + " to " + ifFile, parent);
             }
             // reopen the old file since we couldn't write the new one
-            openRAF();
+            openRAF(false);
             // reset the counts to 0 so we will try a compaction again
             // in the future but not right away.
             ifLiveRecordCount = 0;
@@ -1449,7 +1458,7 @@ private void compact() {
         }
       } else {
         // reopen the old file since we couldn't rename it
-        openRAF();
+        openRAF(false);
         // reset the counts to 0 so we will try a compaction again
         // in the future but not right away.
         ifLiveRecordCount = 0;
@@ -1461,14 +1470,14 @@ private void compact() {
     }
   }
 
-  private void openRAF() {
+  private void openRAF(boolean isCompaction) {
     if (DiskStoreImpl.PREALLOCATE_IF) {
-      openRAF2();
+      openRAF2(isCompaction);
       return;
     }
 
     try {
-      ifRAF = new RandomAccessFile(ifFile, getFileMode());
+      ifRAF = new RandomAccessFile(ifFile, isCompaction ? getCompactionFileMode() : getFileMode());
       long len = ifRAF.length();
       if (len != 0) {
         ifRAF.seek(len);
@@ -1484,9 +1493,17 @@ protected String getFileMode() {
     return DiskStoreImpl.SYNC_IF_WRITES ? "rwd" : "rw";
   }
 
-  private void openRAF2() {
+  protected String getCompactionFileMode() {
+    return DiskStoreImpl.SYNC_IF_COMPACTION_WRITES ? "rwd" : "rw";
+  }
+
+  protected boolean shouldCloseAndReopenRAF() {
+    return !getCompactionFileMode().equals(getFileMode());
+  }
+
+  private void openRAF2(boolean isCompaction) {
     try {
-      ifRAF = new RandomAccessFile(ifFile, getFileMode());
+      ifRAF = new RandomAccessFile(ifFile, isCompaction ? getCompactionFileMode() : getFileMode());
       long len = ifRAF.length();
       if (len != 0) {
         // this.ifRAF.seek(len);
@@ -1810,7 +1827,7 @@ private byte[] pmidToBytes(PersistentMemberID id) {
         && !this.parent.isOfflineModify()) {
       dump();
     }
-    openRAF();
+    openRAF(false);
     if (!this.parent.isOffline() || this.parent.isOfflineCompacting()) {
       if (didNotExist) {
         this.parent.setDiskStoreID(DiskStoreID.random());
diff --git a/geode-core/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/internal/cache/DiskStoreImpl.java b/geode-core/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/internal/cache/DiskStoreImpl.java
index 8415a00b34ca..594ba0fabf4b 100644
--- a/geode-core/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/internal/cache/DiskStoreImpl.java
+++ b/geode-core/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/internal/cache/DiskStoreImpl.java
@@ -267,10 +267,16 @@ public static boolean getBoolean(String sysProp, boolean def) {
   public static boolean SET_IGNORE_PREALLOCATE = false;
 
   /**
-   * This system property turns on synchronous writes just the the init file.
+   * This system property turns on synchronous writes just the init file.
    */
-  static final boolean SYNC_IF_WRITES =
-      Boolean.getBoolean(GeodeGlossary.GEMFIRE_PREFIX + "syncMetaDataWrites");
+  static final boolean SYNC_IF_WRITES = true;
+
+
+  /**
+   * This system property turns on synchronous writes just for the init file during compaction.
+   */
+  static final boolean SYNC_IF_COMPACTION_WRITES =
+      Boolean.getBoolean(GeodeGlossary.GEMFIRE_PREFIX + "syncMetaDataCompactionWrites");
 
   /**
    * For testing - to keep track of files for which fallocate happened