diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/FlatFileItemWriter.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/FlatFileItemWriter.java
index c3c796ee1..db8bd0bce 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/FlatFileItemWriter.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/FlatFileItemWriter.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 package org.springframework.batch.item.file;
 
+import java.io.BufferedWriter;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -59,6 +60,8 @@ import org.springframework.util.ClassUtils;
 public class FlatFileItemWriter<T> extends ExecutionContextUserSupport implements ResourceAwareItemWriterItemStream<T>,
 		InitializingBean {
 
+	private static final boolean DEFAULT_TRANSACTIONAL = true;
+
 	protected static final Log logger = LogFactory.getLog(JdbcBatchItemWriter.class);
 
 	private static final String DEFAULT_LINE_SEPARATOR = System.getProperty("line.separator");
@@ -86,6 +89,8 @@ public class FlatFileItemWriter<T> extends ExecutionContextUserSupport implement
 	private FlatFileFooterCallback footerCallback;
 
 	private String lineSeparator = DEFAULT_LINE_SEPARATOR;
+	
+	private boolean transactional = DEFAULT_TRANSACTIONAL;
 
 	public FlatFileItemWriter() {
 		setName(ClassUtils.getShortName(FlatFileItemWriter.class));
@@ -185,6 +190,14 @@ public class FlatFileItemWriter<T> extends ExecutionContextUserSupport implement
 		this.footerCallback = footerCallback;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Flag to indicate that writing to the buffer should be delayed if a
+	 * transaction is active. Defaults to true.
+	 */
+	public void setTransactional(boolean transactional) {
+		this.transactional = transactional;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Writes out a string followed by a "new line", where the format of the new
 	 * line separator is determined by the underlying operating system. If the
@@ -375,7 +388,10 @@ public class FlatFileItemWriter<T> extends ExecutionContextUserSupport implement
 			}
 
 			outputBufferedWriter.flush();
-			pos = fileChannel.position() + ((TransactionAwareBufferedWriter) outputBufferedWriter).getBufferSize();
+			pos = fileChannel.position();
+			if (transactional) {
+				pos += ((TransactionAwareBufferedWriter) outputBufferedWriter).getBufferSize();
+			}
 
 			return pos;
 
@@ -500,9 +516,12 @@ public class FlatFileItemWriter<T> extends ExecutionContextUserSupport implement
 		 */
 		private Writer getBufferedWriter(FileChannel fileChannel, String encoding) {
 			try {
-				TransactionAwareBufferedWriter outputBufferedWriter = new TransactionAwareBufferedWriter(Channels
-						.newWriter(fileChannel, encoding), getName());
-				return outputBufferedWriter;
+				Writer writer = Channels.newWriter(fileChannel, encoding);
+				if (transactional) {
+					return new TransactionAwareBufferedWriter(writer, getName());
+				} else {
+					return new BufferedWriter(writer);
+				}
 			}
 			catch (UnsupportedCharsetException ucse) {
 				throw new ItemStreamException("Bad encoding configuration for output file " + fileChannel, ucse);
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/FlatFileItemWriterTests.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/FlatFileItemWriterTests.java
index ab013c4c1..67d3c4c8b 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/FlatFileItemWriterTests.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/FlatFileItemWriterTests.java
@@ -253,6 +253,38 @@ public class FlatFileItemWriterTests {
 
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void testWriteStringTransactional() throws Exception {
+		writeStringTransactionCheck(null);
+		assertEquals(TEST_STRING, readLine());
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testWriteStringNotTransactional() throws Exception {
+		writer.setTransactional(false);
+		writeStringTransactionCheck(TEST_STRING);
+	}
+
+	private void writeStringTransactionCheck(final String expectedInTransaction) {
+		PlatformTransactionManager transactionManager = new ResourcelessTransactionManager();
+		
+		writer.open(executionContext);
+		new TransactionTemplate(transactionManager).execute(new TransactionCallback() {
+			public Object doInTransaction(TransactionStatus status) {
+				try {
+					writer.write(Collections.singletonList(TEST_STRING));
+					assertEquals(expectedInTransaction, readLine());
+				}
+				catch (Exception e) {
+					throw new UnexpectedInputException("Could not write data", e);
+				}
+				
+				return null;
+			}
+		});
+		writer.close();
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void testTransactionalRestart() throws Exception {