diff --git a/mm/mempool.c b/mm/mempool.c
index 659aa42bad16..905434f18c97 100644
--- a/mm/mempool.c
+++ b/mm/mempool.c
@@ -304,9 +304,9 @@ void mempool_free(void *element, mempool_t *pool)
 	 * ensures that there will be frees which return elements to the
 	 * pool waking up the waiters.
 	 */
-	if (pool->curr_nr < pool->min_nr) {
+	if (unlikely(pool->curr_nr < pool->min_nr)) {
 		spin_lock_irqsave(&pool->lock, flags);
-		if (pool->curr_nr < pool->min_nr) {
+		if (likely(pool->curr_nr < pool->min_nr)) {
 			add_element(pool, element);
 			spin_unlock_irqrestore(&pool->lock, flags);
 			wake_up(&pool->wait);