diff --git a/mm/vmscan.c b/mm/vmscan.c
index 7fde5f904c8d..6db9176d8c63 100644
--- a/mm/vmscan.c
+++ b/mm/vmscan.c
@@ -2775,6 +2775,14 @@ static bool shrink_node(pg_data_t *pgdat, struct scan_control *sc)
 			unsigned long reclaimed;
 			unsigned long scanned;
 
+			/*
+			 * This loop can become CPU-bound when target memcgs
+			 * aren't eligible for reclaim - either because they
+			 * don't have any reclaimable pages, or because their
+			 * memory is explicitly protected. Avoid soft lockups.
+			 */
+			cond_resched();
+
 			switch (mem_cgroup_protected(root, memcg)) {
 			case MEMCG_PROT_MIN:
 				/*