diff --git a/mm/mempolicy.c b/mm/mempolicy.c
index 2d3077ce50cd..ecbda7f5d494 100644
--- a/mm/mempolicy.c
+++ b/mm/mempolicy.c
@@ -2128,6 +2128,9 @@ bool __mpol_equal(struct mempolicy *a, struct mempolicy *b)
 	case MPOL_INTERLEAVE:
 		return !!nodes_equal(a->v.nodes, b->v.nodes);
 	case MPOL_PREFERRED:
+		/* a's ->flags is the same as b's */
+		if (a->flags & MPOL_F_LOCAL)
+			return true;
 		return a->v.preferred_node == b->v.preferred_node;
 	default:
 		BUG();