diff --git a/mm/vmscan.c b/mm/vmscan.c
index 7e7d25504651..c7ce2c161225 100644
--- a/mm/vmscan.c
+++ b/mm/vmscan.c
@@ -476,6 +476,17 @@ static unsigned long do_shrink_slab(struct shrink_control *shrinkctl,
 	delta = freeable >> priority;
 	delta *= 4;
 	do_div(delta, shrinker->seeks);
+
+	/*
+	 * Make sure we apply some minimal pressure on default priority
+	 * even on small cgroups. Stale objects are not only consuming memory
+	 * by themselves, but can also hold a reference to a dying cgroup,
+	 * preventing it from being reclaimed. A dying cgroup with all
+	 * corresponding structures like per-cpu stats and kmem caches
+	 * can be really big, so it may lead to a significant waste of memory.
+	 */
+	delta = max_t(unsigned long long, delta, min(freeable, batch_size));
+
 	total_scan += delta;
 	if (total_scan < 0) {
 		pr_err("shrink_slab: %pF negative objects to delete nr=%ld\n",