Index: src/btree.c
==================================================================
--- src/btree.c
+++ src/btree.c
@@ -2859,10 +2859,35 @@
   sqlite3BtreeLeave(p);
   return rc;
 #endif
 }
 
+/*
+** If the user has not set the safety-level for this database connection
+** using "PRAGMA synchronous", and if the safety-level is not already
+** set to the value passed to this function as the second parameter,
+** set it so.
+*/
+#if SQLITE_DEFAULT_SYNCHRONOUS!=SQLITE_DEFAULT_WAL_SYNCHRONOUS
+static void setDefaultSyncFlag(BtShared *pBt, u8 safety_level){
+  sqlite3 *db;
+  Db *pDb;
+  if( (db=pBt->db)!=0 && (pDb=db->aDb)!=0 ){
+    while( pDb->pBt==0 || pDb->pBt->pBt!=pBt ){ pDb++; }
+    if( pDb->bSyncSet==0 
+     && pDb->safety_level!=safety_level 
+     && pDb!=&db->aDb[1] 
+    ){
+      pDb->safety_level = safety_level;
+      sqlite3PagerSetFlags(pBt->pPager,
+          pDb->safety_level | (db->flags & PAGER_FLAGS_MASK));
+    }
+  }
+}
+#else
+# define setDefaultSyncFlag(pBt,safety_level)
+#endif
 
 /*
 ** Get a reference to pPage1 of the database file.  This will
 ** also acquire a readlock on that file.
 **
@@ -2932,30 +2957,19 @@
       int isOpen = 0;
       rc = sqlite3PagerOpenWal(pBt->pPager, &isOpen);
       if( rc!=SQLITE_OK ){
         goto page1_init_failed;
       }else{
-#if SQLITE_DEFAULT_SYNCHRONOUS!=SQLITE_DEFAULT_WAL_SYNCHRONOUS
-        sqlite3 *db;
-        Db *pDb;
-        if( (db=pBt->db)!=0 && (pDb=db->aDb)!=0 ){
-          while( pDb->pBt==0 || pDb->pBt->pBt!=pBt ){ pDb++; }
-          if( pDb->bSyncSet==0
-           && pDb->safety_level==SQLITE_DEFAULT_SYNCHRONOUS+1
-          ){
-            pDb->safety_level = SQLITE_DEFAULT_WAL_SYNCHRONOUS+1;
-            sqlite3PagerSetFlags(pBt->pPager,
-               pDb->safety_level | (db->flags & PAGER_FLAGS_MASK));
-          }
-        }
-#endif
+        setDefaultSyncFlag(pBt, SQLITE_DEFAULT_WAL_SYNCHRONOUS+1);
         if( isOpen==0 ){
           releasePage(pPage1);
           return SQLITE_OK;
         }
       }
       rc = SQLITE_NOTADB;
+    }else{
+      setDefaultSyncFlag(pBt, SQLITE_DEFAULT_SYNCHRONOUS+1);
     }
 #endif
 
     /* EVIDENCE-OF: R-15465-20813 The maximum and minimum embedded payload
     ** fractions and the leaf payload fraction values must be 64, 32, and 32.

Index: src/ctime.c
==================================================================
--- src/ctime.c
+++ src/ctime.c
@@ -64,10 +64,16 @@
   "DEFAULT_LOCKING_MODE=" CTIMEOPT_VAL(SQLITE_DEFAULT_LOCKING_MODE),
 #endif
 #if defined(SQLITE_DEFAULT_MMAP_SIZE) && !defined(SQLITE_DEFAULT_MMAP_SIZE_xc)
   "DEFAULT_MMAP_SIZE=" CTIMEOPT_VAL(SQLITE_DEFAULT_MMAP_SIZE),
 #endif
+#if SQLITE_DEFAULT_SYNCHRONOUS
+  "DEFAULT_SYNCHRONOUS=" CTIMEOPT_VAL(SQLITE_DEFAULT_SYNCHRONOUS),
+#endif
+#if SQLITE_DEFAULT_WAL_SYNCHRONOUS
+  "DEFAULT_WAL_SYNCHRONOUS=" CTIMEOPT_VAL(SQLITE_DEFAULT_WAL_SYNCHRONOUS),
+#endif
 #if SQLITE_DIRECT_OVERFLOW_READ
   "DIRECT_OVERFLOW_READ",
 #endif
 #if SQLITE_DISABLE_DIRSYNC
   "DISABLE_DIRSYNC",

Index: src/test_config.c
==================================================================
--- src/test_config.c
+++ src/test_config.c
@@ -738,10 +738,12 @@
   LINKVAR( MAX_LIKE_PATTERN_LENGTH );
   LINKVAR( MAX_TRIGGER_DEPTH );
   LINKVAR( DEFAULT_CACHE_SIZE );
   LINKVAR( DEFAULT_PAGE_SIZE );
   LINKVAR( DEFAULT_FILE_FORMAT );
+  LINKVAR( DEFAULT_SYNCHRONOUS );
+  LINKVAR( DEFAULT_WAL_SYNCHRONOUS );
   LINKVAR( MAX_ATTACHED );
   LINKVAR( MAX_DEFAULT_PAGE_SIZE );
   LINKVAR( MAX_WORKER_THREADS );
 
   {

ADDED   test/sync2.test
Index: test/sync2.test
==================================================================
--- /dev/null
+++ test/sync2.test
@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+# 2017 March 16
+#
+# The author disclaims copyright to this source code.  In place of
+# a legal notice, here is a blessing:
+#
+#    May you do good and not evil.
+#    May you find forgiveness for yourself and forgive others.
+#    May you share freely, never taking more than you give.
+#
+#***********************************************************************
+# This file implements regression tests for SQLite library.
+#
+# Specificly, it tests that "PRAGMA synchronous" appears to work.
+#
+
+set testdir [file dirname $argv0]
+source $testdir/tester.tcl
+set testprefix sync2
+
+#
+# These tests are only applicable when pager pragma are
+# enabled. Also, since every test uses an ATTACHed database, they
+# are only run when ATTACH is enabled.
+#
+ifcapable !pager_pragmas||!attach {
+  finish_test
+  return
+}
+
+proc execsql_sync {sql} {
+  set s $::sqlite_sync_count
+  set res [execsql $sql]
+  concat [expr $::sqlite_sync_count-$s] $res
+}
+
+proc do_execsql_sync_test {tn sql res} {
+  uplevel [list do_test $tn [list execsql_sync $sql] [list {*}$res]]
+}
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Tests for journal mode.
+#
+sqlite3 db test.db
+do_execsql_test 1.0 {
+  CREATE TABLE t1(a, b);
+  INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(1, 2);
+}
+
+do_execsql_sync_test 1.1 { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(3, 4) } 4
+
+# synchronous=normal. So, 1 sync on the directory, 1 on the journal, 1 
+# on the db file. 3 in total.
+do_execsql_test      1.2.1 { PRAGMA main.synchronous = NORMAL }
+do_execsql_test      1.2.2 { PRAGMA main.synchronous }     1
+do_execsql_sync_test 1.2.3 { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(5, 6) } 3
+
+# synchronous=off. No syncs.
+do_execsql_test      1.3.1 { PRAGMA main.synchronous = OFF }
+do_execsql_test      1.3.2 { PRAGMA main.synchronous }     0
+do_execsql_sync_test 1.3.3 { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(7, 8) } 0
+ 
+# synchronous=full, journal_mode=delete. So, 1 sync on the directory,
+# 2 on the journal, 1 on the db file. 4 in total.
+do_execsql_test      1.4.1 { PRAGMA main.synchronous = FULL }
+do_execsql_test      1.4.2 { PRAGMA main.synchronous }      2
+do_execsql_sync_test 1.4.3 { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(9, 10) } 4
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Tests for wal mode.
+#
+do_execsql_test      1.5 { PRAGMA journal_mode = wal } {wal}
+
+# sync=full, journal_mode=wal. One sync on the directory, two on the 
+# wal file.
+do_execsql_sync_test 1.6 { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(11, 12) } 3
+
+# One sync on the wal file.
+do_execsql_sync_test 1.7 { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(13, 14) } 1
+
+# No syncs.
+do_execsql_test      1.8.1 { PRAGMA main.synchronous = NORMAL }
+do_execsql_test      1.8.2 { PRAGMA main.synchronous }          1
+do_execsql_sync_test 1.8.3 { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(15, 16) }    0
+
+# One sync on wal file, one on the db file.
+do_execsql_sync_test 1.9   { PRAGMA wal_checkpoint }  {2 0 3 3}
+
+# No syncs.
+do_execsql_test      1.10.1 { PRAGMA main.synchronous = OFF }
+do_execsql_test      1.10.2 { PRAGMA main.synchronous }          0
+do_execsql_sync_test 1.10.3 { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(17, 18) }    0
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Tests for the compile time settings SQLITE_DEFAULT_SYNCHRONOUS and
+# SQLITE_DEFAULT_WAL_SYNCHRONOUS. These tests only run if the former
+# is set to "2" and the latter to "1". This is not the default, but
+# it is currently the recommended configuration.
+#
+#   https://sqlite.org/compile.html#recommended_compile_time_options
+#
+if {$SQLITE_DEFAULT_SYNCHRONOUS==2 && $SQLITE_DEFAULT_WAL_SYNCHRONOUS==1} {
+
+  db close
+  sqlite3 db test.db
+
+  # Wal mode, sync=normal. The first transaction does one sync on directory,
+  # one on the wal file. The second does no syncs.
+  do_execsql_sync_test 1.11.1 { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(19, 20) } 2
+  do_execsql_sync_test 1.11.2 { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(21, 22) } 0
+  do_execsql_test 1.11.3      { PRAGMA main.synchronous }       1
+
+  # One sync on wal file, one on the db file.
+  do_execsql_sync_test 1.12   { PRAGMA wal_checkpoint }  {2 0 2 2}
+
+  # First transaction syncs the wal file once, the second not at all.
+  # one on the wal file. The second does no syncs.
+  do_execsql_sync_test 1.13.1 { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(22, 23) } 1
+  do_execsql_sync_test 1.13.2 { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(24, 25) } 0
+
+  do_execsql_test 1.14 { PRAGMA journal_mode = delete } {delete}
+  
+  # Delete mode, sync=full. The first transaction does one sync on 
+  # directory, two on the journal file, one on the db. The second does 
+  # the same.
+  do_execsql_sync_test 1.15.1 { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(26, 27) } 4
+  do_execsql_sync_test 1.15.2 { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(28, 29) } 4
+  do_execsql_test 1.15.3      { PRAGMA main.synchronous }       2
+
+  # Switch back to wal mode.
+  do_execsql_test 1.16 { PRAGMA journal_mode = wal } {wal}
+
+  do_execsql_sync_test 1.17.1 { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(30, 31) } 2
+  do_execsql_sync_test 1.17.2 { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(32, 33) } 0
+  do_execsql_test 1.17.3      { PRAGMA main.synchronous }       1
+
+  # Now set synchronous=off, then switch back to delete mode. Check
+  # that the db handle is still using synchronous=off.
+  do_execsql_test 1.18.3      { PRAGMA main.synchronous=off }
+  do_execsql_test 1.18 { PRAGMA journal_mode = delete } {delete}
+
+  do_execsql_sync_test 1.19.1 { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(34, 35) } 0
+  do_execsql_sync_test 1.19.2 { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(36, 37) } 0
+  do_execsql_test 1.19.3      { PRAGMA main.synchronous }       0
+
+  # Close and reopen the db. Back to synchronous=normal.
+  db close
+  sqlite3 db test.db
+  do_execsql_sync_test 1.20.1 { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(38, 39) } 4
+  do_execsql_sync_test 1.20.2 { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES(40, 41) } 4
+  do_execsql_test 1.20.3      { PRAGMA main.synchronous }       2
+}
+
+finish_test