diff --git a/mm/vmscan.c b/mm/vmscan.c
index 53e4534885ad..5a8776eb0f43 100644
--- a/mm/vmscan.c
+++ b/mm/vmscan.c
@@ -1438,6 +1438,19 @@ putback_inactive_pages(struct lruvec *lruvec, struct list_head *page_list)
 	list_splice(&pages_to_free, page_list);
 }
 
+/*
+ * If a kernel thread (such as nfsd for loop-back mounts) services
+ * a backing device by writing to the page cache it sets PF_LESS_THROTTLE.
+ * In that case we should only throttle if the backing device it is
+ * writing to is congested.  In other cases it is safe to throttle.
+ */
+static int current_may_throttle(void)
+{
+	return !(current->flags & PF_LESS_THROTTLE) ||
+		current->backing_dev_info == NULL ||
+		bdi_write_congested(current->backing_dev_info);
+}
+
 /*
  * shrink_inactive_list() is a helper for shrink_zone().  It returns the number
  * of reclaimed pages
@@ -1566,7 +1579,8 @@ shrink_inactive_list(unsigned long nr_to_scan, struct lruvec *lruvec,
 		 * implies that pages are cycling through the LRU faster than
 		 * they are written so also forcibly stall.
 		 */
-		if (nr_unqueued_dirty == nr_taken || nr_immediate)
+		if ((nr_unqueued_dirty == nr_taken || nr_immediate) &&
+		    current_may_throttle())
 			congestion_wait(BLK_RW_ASYNC, HZ/10);
 	}
 
@@ -1575,7 +1589,8 @@ shrink_inactive_list(unsigned long nr_to_scan, struct lruvec *lruvec,
 	 * is congested. Allow kswapd to continue until it starts encountering
 	 * unqueued dirty pages or cycling through the LRU too quickly.
 	 */
-	if (!sc->hibernation_mode && !current_is_kswapd())
+	if (!sc->hibernation_mode && !current_is_kswapd() &&
+	    current_may_throttle())
 		wait_iff_congested(zone, BLK_RW_ASYNC, HZ/10);
 
 	trace_mm_vmscan_lru_shrink_inactive(zone->zone_pgdat->node_id,