diff --git a/Documentation/sysctl/kernel.txt b/Documentation/sysctl/kernel.txt
index bcff3f9de550..ab7d16efa96b 100644
--- a/Documentation/sysctl/kernel.txt
+++ b/Documentation/sysctl/kernel.txt
@@ -427,6 +427,32 @@ This file shows up if CONFIG_DEBUG_STACKOVERFLOW is enabled.
 
 ==============================================================
 
+perf_cpu_time_max_percent:
+
+Hints to the kernel how much CPU time it should be allowed to
+use to handle perf sampling events.  If the perf subsystem
+is informed that its samples are exceeding this limit, it
+will drop its sampling frequency to attempt to reduce its CPU
+usage.
+
+Some perf sampling happens in NMIs.  If these samples
+unexpectedly take too long to execute, the NMIs can become
+stacked up next to each other so much that nothing else is
+allowed to execute.
+
+0: disable the mechanism.  Do not monitor or correct perf's
+   sampling rate no matter how CPU time it takes.
+
+1-100: attempt to throttle perf's sample rate to this
+   percentage of CPU.  Note: the kernel calculates an
+   "expected" length of each sample event.  100 here means
+   100% of that expected length.  Even if this is set to
+   100, you may still see sample throttling if this
+   length is exceeded.  Set to 0 if you truly do not care
+   how much CPU is consumed.
+
+==============================================================
+
 
 pid_max:
 
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/perf_event.c b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/perf_event.c
index ab3395295224..afc2413ba00c 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/perf_event.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/perf_event.c
@@ -1252,10 +1252,20 @@ void perf_events_lapic_init(void)
 static int __kprobes
 perf_event_nmi_handler(unsigned int cmd, struct pt_regs *regs)
 {
+	int ret;
+	u64 start_clock;
+	u64 finish_clock;
+
 	if (!atomic_read(&active_events))
 		return NMI_DONE;
 
-	return x86_pmu.handle_irq(regs);
+	start_clock = local_clock();
+	ret = x86_pmu.handle_irq(regs);
+	finish_clock = local_clock();
+
+	perf_sample_event_took(finish_clock - start_clock);
+
+	return ret;
 }
 
 struct event_constraint emptyconstraint;
diff --git a/include/linux/perf_event.h b/include/linux/perf_event.h
index 056f93a7990f..50b3efd14d29 100644
--- a/include/linux/perf_event.h
+++ b/include/linux/perf_event.h
@@ -706,10 +706,17 @@ static inline void perf_callchain_store(struct perf_callchain_entry *entry, u64
 extern int sysctl_perf_event_paranoid;
 extern int sysctl_perf_event_mlock;
 extern int sysctl_perf_event_sample_rate;
+extern int sysctl_perf_cpu_time_max_percent;
+
+extern void perf_sample_event_took(u64 sample_len_ns);
 
 extern int perf_proc_update_handler(struct ctl_table *table, int write,
 		void __user *buffer, size_t *lenp,
 		loff_t *ppos);
+extern int perf_cpu_time_max_percent_handler(struct ctl_table *table, int write,
+		void __user *buffer, size_t *lenp,
+		loff_t *ppos);
+
 
 static inline bool perf_paranoid_tracepoint_raw(void)
 {
diff --git a/kernel/events/core.c b/kernel/events/core.c
index 9c8920783317..1db3af933704 100644
--- a/kernel/events/core.c
+++ b/kernel/events/core.c
@@ -165,10 +165,26 @@ int sysctl_perf_event_mlock __read_mostly = 512 + (PAGE_SIZE / 1024); /* 'free'
 /*
  * max perf event sample rate
  */
-#define DEFAULT_MAX_SAMPLE_RATE 100000
-int sysctl_perf_event_sample_rate __read_mostly = DEFAULT_MAX_SAMPLE_RATE;
-static int max_samples_per_tick __read_mostly =
-	DIV_ROUND_UP(DEFAULT_MAX_SAMPLE_RATE, HZ);
+#define DEFAULT_MAX_SAMPLE_RATE		100000
+#define DEFAULT_SAMPLE_PERIOD_NS	(NSEC_PER_SEC / DEFAULT_MAX_SAMPLE_RATE)
+#define DEFAULT_CPU_TIME_MAX_PERCENT	25
+
+int sysctl_perf_event_sample_rate __read_mostly	= DEFAULT_MAX_SAMPLE_RATE;
+
+static int max_samples_per_tick __read_mostly	= DIV_ROUND_UP(DEFAULT_MAX_SAMPLE_RATE, HZ);
+static int perf_sample_period_ns __read_mostly	= DEFAULT_SAMPLE_PERIOD_NS;
+
+static atomic_t perf_sample_allowed_ns __read_mostly =
+	ATOMIC_INIT( DEFAULT_SAMPLE_PERIOD_NS * DEFAULT_CPU_TIME_MAX_PERCENT / 100);
+
+void update_perf_cpu_limits(void)
+{
+	u64 tmp = perf_sample_period_ns;
+
+	tmp *= sysctl_perf_cpu_time_max_percent;
+	tmp = do_div(tmp, 100);
+	atomic_set(&perf_sample_allowed_ns, tmp);
+}
 
 static int perf_rotate_context(struct perf_cpu_context *cpuctx);
 
@@ -182,10 +198,78 @@ int perf_proc_update_handler(struct ctl_table *table, int write,
 		return ret;
 
 	max_samples_per_tick = DIV_ROUND_UP(sysctl_perf_event_sample_rate, HZ);
+	perf_sample_period_ns = NSEC_PER_SEC / sysctl_perf_event_sample_rate;
+	update_perf_cpu_limits();
 
 	return 0;
 }
 
+int sysctl_perf_cpu_time_max_percent __read_mostly = DEFAULT_CPU_TIME_MAX_PERCENT;
+
+int perf_cpu_time_max_percent_handler(struct ctl_table *table, int write,
+				void __user *buffer, size_t *lenp,
+				loff_t *ppos)
+{
+	int ret = proc_dointvec(table, write, buffer, lenp, ppos);
+
+	if (ret || !write)
+		return ret;
+
+	update_perf_cpu_limits();
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+/*
+ * perf samples are done in some very critical code paths (NMIs).
+ * If they take too much CPU time, the system can lock up and not
+ * get any real work done.  This will drop the sample rate when
+ * we detect that events are taking too long.
+ */
+#define NR_ACCUMULATED_SAMPLES 128
+DEFINE_PER_CPU(u64, running_sample_length);
+
+void perf_sample_event_took(u64 sample_len_ns)
+{
+	u64 avg_local_sample_len;
+	u64 local_samples_len = __get_cpu_var(running_sample_length);
+
+	if (atomic_read(&perf_sample_allowed_ns) == 0)
+		return;
+
+	/* decay the counter by 1 average sample */
+	local_samples_len = __get_cpu_var(running_sample_length);
+	local_samples_len -= local_samples_len/NR_ACCUMULATED_SAMPLES;
+	local_samples_len += sample_len_ns;
+	__get_cpu_var(running_sample_length) = local_samples_len;
+
+	/*
+	 * note: this will be biased artifically low until we have
+	 * seen NR_ACCUMULATED_SAMPLES.  Doing it this way keeps us
+	 * from having to maintain a count.
+	 */
+	avg_local_sample_len = local_samples_len/NR_ACCUMULATED_SAMPLES;
+
+	if (avg_local_sample_len <= atomic_read(&perf_sample_allowed_ns))
+		return;
+
+	if (max_samples_per_tick <= 1)
+		return;
+
+	max_samples_per_tick = DIV_ROUND_UP(max_samples_per_tick, 2);
+	sysctl_perf_event_sample_rate = max_samples_per_tick * HZ;
+	perf_sample_period_ns = NSEC_PER_SEC / sysctl_perf_event_sample_rate;
+
+	printk_ratelimited(KERN_WARNING
+			"perf samples too long (%lld > %d), lowering "
+			"kernel.perf_event_max_sample_rate to %d\n",
+			avg_local_sample_len,
+			atomic_read(&perf_sample_allowed_ns),
+			sysctl_perf_event_sample_rate);
+
+	update_perf_cpu_limits();
+}
+
 static atomic64_t perf_event_id;
 
 static void cpu_ctx_sched_out(struct perf_cpu_context *cpuctx,
diff --git a/kernel/sysctl.c b/kernel/sysctl.c
index b0a1f99907f3..4ce13c3cedb9 100644
--- a/kernel/sysctl.c
+++ b/kernel/sysctl.c
@@ -1043,6 +1043,15 @@ static struct ctl_table kern_table[] = {
 		.mode		= 0644,
 		.proc_handler	= perf_proc_update_handler,
 	},
+	{
+		.procname	= "perf_cpu_time_max_percent",
+		.data		= &sysctl_perf_cpu_time_max_percent,
+		.maxlen		= sizeof(sysctl_perf_cpu_time_max_percent),
+		.mode		= 0644,
+		.proc_handler	= perf_cpu_time_max_percent_handler,
+		.extra1		= &zero,
+		.extra2		= &one_hundred,
+	},
 #endif
 #ifdef CONFIG_KMEMCHECK
 	{