diff --git a/mm/backing-dev.c b/mm/backing-dev.c
index d6edf8d14f9c..94a047bb6c39 100644
--- a/mm/backing-dev.c
+++ b/mm/backing-dev.c
@@ -359,6 +359,17 @@ static unsigned long bdi_longest_inactive(void)
 	return max(5UL * 60 * HZ, interval);
 }
 
+/*
+ * Clear pending bit and wakeup anybody waiting for flusher thread creation or
+ * shutdown
+ */
+static void bdi_clear_pending(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
+{
+	clear_bit(BDI_pending, &bdi->state);
+	smp_mb__after_clear_bit();
+	wake_up_bit(&bdi->state, BDI_pending);
+}
+
 static int bdi_forker_thread(void *ptr)
 {
 	struct bdi_writeback *me = ptr;
@@ -469,11 +480,13 @@ static int bdi_forker_thread(void *ptr)
 				spin_unlock_bh(&bdi->wb_lock);
 				wake_up_process(task);
 			}
+			bdi_clear_pending(bdi);
 			break;
 
 		case KILL_THREAD:
 			__set_current_state(TASK_RUNNING);
 			kthread_stop(task);
+			bdi_clear_pending(bdi);
 			break;
 
 		case NO_ACTION:
@@ -489,16 +502,8 @@ static int bdi_forker_thread(void *ptr)
 			else
 				schedule_timeout(msecs_to_jiffies(dirty_writeback_interval * 10));
 			try_to_freeze();
-			/* Back to the main loop */
-			continue;
+			break;
 		}
-
-		/*
-		 * Clear pending bit and wakeup anybody waiting to tear us down.
-		 */
-		clear_bit(BDI_pending, &bdi->state);
-		smp_mb__after_clear_bit();
-		wake_up_bit(&bdi->state, BDI_pending);
 	}
 
 	return 0;