diff --git a/vendors/irmin-lmdb/irmin_lmdb.ml b/vendors/irmin-lmdb/irmin_lmdb.ml
index d69fdbe0a..21abebb5b 100644
--- a/vendors/irmin-lmdb/irmin_lmdb.ml
+++ b/vendors/irmin-lmdb/irmin_lmdb.ml
@@ -42,12 +42,48 @@ open Lwt.Infix
 type t = {
   db: Lmdb.t ;
   root: string ;
+  mutable wtxn: (Lmdb.rw Lmdb.txn * Lmdb.db) option;
 }
 
 let of_result = function
   | Ok v -> Lwt.return v
   | Error err -> Lwt.fail_with (Lmdb.string_of_error err)
 
+let (|>>) v f =
+  match v with
+  | Ok v -> f v
+  | Error e -> Error e
+
+let get_wtxn db =
+  match db.wtxn with
+  | Some t -> Ok t
+  | None ->
+      Lmdb.create_rw_txn db.db |>> fun txn ->
+      Lmdb.opendb txn |>> fun ddb ->
+      db.wtxn <- Some (txn, ddb);
+      Ok (txn, ddb)
+
+let commit_wtxn db =
+  match db.wtxn with
+  | None -> Ok ()
+  | Some (t, _ddb) ->
+      db.wtxn <- None;
+      Lmdb.commit_txn t
+
+let add db k v =
+  get_wtxn db |>> fun (txn, ddb) ->
+  Lmdb.put_string txn ddb k v
+
+let add db k v =
+  of_result @@ add db k v
+
+let add_cstruct db k v =
+  get_wtxn db |>> fun (txn, ddb) ->
+  Lmdb.put txn ddb k (Cstruct.to_bigarray v)
+
+let add_cstruct db k v =
+  of_result @@ add_cstruct db k v
+
 let src = Logs.Src.create "irmin.lmdb" ~doc:"Irmin in a Lmdb store"
 module Log = (val Logs.src_log src : Logs.LOG)
 
@@ -81,27 +117,25 @@ let config
   let config = C.add config Conf.readonly readonly in
   Option.value_map mapsize ~default:config ~f:(C.add config Conf.mapsize)
 
+type ('r) reader = { f : 'k. 'k Lmdb.txn -> Lmdb.db -> ('r, Lmdb.error) result } [@@unboxed]
+
+let with_read_db db ~f =
+  match db.wtxn with
+  | None ->
+      Lmdb.with_ro_db db.db ~f:f.f
+  | Some (txn, ddb) ->
+      f.f txn ddb
+
 let mem db k =
-  Lmdb.with_ro_db db ~f:(fun txn db -> Lmdb.mem txn db k) |>
+  with_read_db db ~f:{ f = fun txn db -> Lmdb.mem txn db k } |>
   of_result
 
 let find_bind db k ~f =
-  match Lmdb.with_ro_db db
-          ~f:(fun txn db -> Result.map ~f (Lmdb.get txn db k)) with
+  match with_read_db db ~f:{ f = fun txn db -> Result.map ~f (Lmdb.get txn db k) } with
   | Error KeyNotFound -> Lwt.return_none
   | Error err -> Lwt.fail_with (Lmdb.string_of_error err)
   | Ok v -> Lwt.return v
 
-let add db k v =
-  Lmdb.with_rw_db db ~f:begin fun txn db ->
-    Lmdb.put_string txn db k v ;
-  end |> of_result
-
-let add_cstruct db k v =
-  Lmdb.with_rw_db db ~f:begin fun txn db ->
-    Lmdb.put txn db k (Cstruct.to_bigarray v) ;
-  end |> of_result
-
 module Irmin_value_store
     (M: Irmin.Metadata.S)
     (H: Irmin.Hash.S)
@@ -117,11 +151,11 @@ module Irmin_value_store
     let lmdb_of_key h =
       "contents/" ^ Cstruct.to_string (H.to_raw h)
 
-    let mem { db ; _ } key =
+    let mem db key =
       let key = lmdb_of_key key in
       mem db key
 
-    let find { db ; _ } key =
+    let find db key =
       let key = lmdb_of_key key in
       find_bind db key ~f:begin fun v ->
         Option.of_result (C.of_string Cstruct.(to_string (of_bigarray v)))
@@ -129,7 +163,7 @@ module Irmin_value_store
 
     let to_string = Fmt.to_to_string C.pp
 
-    let add { db ; _ } v =
+    let add db v =
       let k = H.digest C.t v in
       let k_lmdb = lmdb_of_key k in
       let v = to_string v in
@@ -376,7 +410,7 @@ module Irmin_value_store
       let lmdb_of_key h =
         "node/" ^ Cstruct.to_string (H.to_raw h)
 
-      let mem { db ; _ } key =
+      let mem db key =
         let key = lmdb_of_key key in
         mem db key
 
@@ -384,11 +418,11 @@ module Irmin_value_store
         Irmin.Type.decode_cstruct (Irmin.Type.list Val.entry_t) v |>
         Option.of_result
 
-      let find { db ; _ } key =
+      let find db key =
         let key = lmdb_of_key key in
         find_bind db key ~f:(fun v -> of_cstruct (cstruct_of_ba_copy v))
 
-      let add { db ; _ } v =
+      let add db v =
         let v = Irmin.Type.encode_cstruct (Irmin.Type.list Val.entry_t) v in
         let k = H.digest Irmin.Type.cstruct v in
         let k_lmdb = lmdb_of_key k in
@@ -439,7 +473,7 @@ module Irmin_value_store
       type key = H.t
       type value = Val.t
 
-      let mem { db ; _ } key =
+      let mem db key =
         let key = lmdb_of_key key in
         mem db key
 
@@ -447,15 +481,16 @@ module Irmin_value_store
         Irmin.Type.decode_cstruct Val.t v |>
         Option.of_result
 
-      let find { db ; _ } key =
+      let find db key =
         let key = lmdb_of_key key in
         find_bind db key ~f:(fun v -> of_cstruct (cstruct_of_ba_copy v))
 
-      let add { db ; _ } v =
+      let add db v =
         let v = Irmin.Type.encode_cstruct Val.t v in
         let k = H.digest Irmin.Type.cstruct v in
         let k_lmdb = lmdb_of_key k in
-        add_cstruct db k_lmdb v >|= fun () -> k
+        add_cstruct db k_lmdb v >>= fun () ->
+        of_result @@ commit_wtxn db >|= fun () -> k
 
     end
     include AO
@@ -508,10 +543,10 @@ module Irmin_branch_store (B: Branch) (H: Irmin.Hash.S) = struct
 
   let lmdb_of_branch r = Fmt.to_to_string B.pp_ref r
 
-  let mem { db ; _ } r =
+  let mem db r =
     mem db.db (lmdb_of_branch r)
 
-  let find { db ; _ } r =
+  let find db r =
     find_bind db.db (lmdb_of_branch r)
       ~f:(fun v -> Some (H.of_raw (cstruct_of_ba_copy v)))
 
@@ -642,12 +677,12 @@ module Make
         let root = match root with None -> "irmin.ldb" | Some root -> root in
         if not (Sys.file_exists root) then Unix.mkdir root 0o755 ;
         let flags = if readonly then [ Lmdb.RdOnly ] else [] in
-        let flags = Lmdb.NoMetaSync :: Lmdb.NoRdAhead :: Lmdb.NoTLS :: flags in
+        let flags = Lmdb.NoRdAhead :: Lmdb.NoTLS :: flags in
         let file_flags = if readonly then 0o444 else 0o644 in
         match Lmdb.opendir ~mapsize ~flags root file_flags with
         | Error err -> Lwt.fail_with (Lmdb.string_of_error err)
         | Ok db ->
-            let db = { db ; root } in
+            let db = { db ; root ; wtxn = None } in
             Branch.v db >|= fun branch ->
             { db; branch; config = conf }