diff --git a/block/blk-rq-qos.c b/block/blk-rq-qos.c
index 61b635bc2a31..656460636ad3 100644
--- a/block/blk-rq-qos.c
+++ b/block/blk-rq-qos.c
@@ -160,24 +160,27 @@ bool rq_depth_calc_max_depth(struct rq_depth *rqd)
 	return ret;
 }
 
-void rq_depth_scale_up(struct rq_depth *rqd)
+/* Returns true on success and false if scaling up wasn't possible */
+bool rq_depth_scale_up(struct rq_depth *rqd)
 {
 	/*
 	 * Hit max in previous round, stop here
 	 */
 	if (rqd->scaled_max)
-		return;
+		return false;
 
 	rqd->scale_step--;
 
 	rqd->scaled_max = rq_depth_calc_max_depth(rqd);
+	return true;
 }
 
 /*
  * Scale rwb down. If 'hard_throttle' is set, do it quicker, since we
- * had a latency violation.
+ * had a latency violation. Returns true on success and returns false if
+ * scaling down wasn't possible.
  */
-void rq_depth_scale_down(struct rq_depth *rqd, bool hard_throttle)
+bool rq_depth_scale_down(struct rq_depth *rqd, bool hard_throttle)
 {
 	/*
 	 * Stop scaling down when we've hit the limit. This also prevents
@@ -185,7 +188,7 @@ void rq_depth_scale_down(struct rq_depth *rqd, bool hard_throttle)
 	 * keep up.
 	 */
 	if (rqd->max_depth == 1)
-		return;
+		return false;
 
 	if (rqd->scale_step < 0 && hard_throttle)
 		rqd->scale_step = 0;
@@ -194,6 +197,7 @@ void rq_depth_scale_down(struct rq_depth *rqd, bool hard_throttle)
 
 	rqd->scaled_max = false;
 	rq_depth_calc_max_depth(rqd);
+	return true;
 }
 
 struct rq_qos_wait_data {
diff --git a/block/blk-rq-qos.h b/block/blk-rq-qos.h
index 08a09dbe0f4b..e8cb68f6958a 100644
--- a/block/blk-rq-qos.h
+++ b/block/blk-rq-qos.h
@@ -130,8 +130,8 @@ void rq_qos_wait(struct rq_wait *rqw, void *private_data,
 		 acquire_inflight_cb_t *acquire_inflight_cb,
 		 cleanup_cb_t *cleanup_cb);
 bool rq_wait_inc_below(struct rq_wait *rq_wait, unsigned int limit);
-void rq_depth_scale_up(struct rq_depth *rqd);
-void rq_depth_scale_down(struct rq_depth *rqd, bool hard_throttle);
+bool rq_depth_scale_up(struct rq_depth *rqd);
+bool rq_depth_scale_down(struct rq_depth *rqd, bool hard_throttle);
 bool rq_depth_calc_max_depth(struct rq_depth *rqd);
 
 void __rq_qos_cleanup(struct rq_qos *rqos, struct bio *bio);
diff --git a/block/blk-wbt.c b/block/blk-wbt.c
index 8af553a0ba00..8641ba9793c5 100644
--- a/block/blk-wbt.c
+++ b/block/blk-wbt.c
@@ -308,7 +308,8 @@ static void calc_wb_limits(struct rq_wb *rwb)
 
 static void scale_up(struct rq_wb *rwb)
 {
-	rq_depth_scale_up(&rwb->rq_depth);
+	if (!rq_depth_scale_up(&rwb->rq_depth))
+		return;
 	calc_wb_limits(rwb);
 	rwb->unknown_cnt = 0;
 	rwb_wake_all(rwb);
@@ -317,7 +318,8 @@ static void scale_up(struct rq_wb *rwb)
 
 static void scale_down(struct rq_wb *rwb, bool hard_throttle)
 {
-	rq_depth_scale_down(&rwb->rq_depth, hard_throttle);
+	if (!rq_depth_scale_down(&rwb->rq_depth, hard_throttle))
+		return;
 	calc_wb_limits(rwb);
 	rwb->unknown_cnt = 0;
 	rwb_trace_step(rwb, "scale down");