diff --git a/include/linux/backing-dev.h b/include/linux/backing-dev.h
index 3e4ce54d84ab..e6cbb915ee56 100644
--- a/include/linux/backing-dev.h
+++ b/include/linux/backing-dev.h
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ static inline int wb_congested(struct bdi_writeback *wb, int cong_bits)
 }
 
 long congestion_wait(int sync, long timeout);
-long wait_iff_congested(struct pglist_data *pgdat, int sync, long timeout);
+long wait_iff_congested(int sync, long timeout);
 
 static inline bool bdi_cap_synchronous_io(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
 {
diff --git a/include/linux/memcontrol.h b/include/linux/memcontrol.h
index c46016bb25eb..f292efac378d 100644
--- a/include/linux/memcontrol.h
+++ b/include/linux/memcontrol.h
@@ -120,6 +120,9 @@ struct mem_cgroup_per_node {
 	unsigned long		usage_in_excess;/* Set to the value by which */
 						/* the soft limit is exceeded*/
 	bool			on_tree;
+	bool			congested;	/* memcg has many dirty pages */
+						/* backed by a congested BDI */
+
 	struct mem_cgroup	*memcg;		/* Back pointer, we cannot */
 						/* use container_of	   */
 };
diff --git a/mm/backing-dev.c b/mm/backing-dev.c
index 08b9aab631ab..023190c69dce 100644
--- a/mm/backing-dev.c
+++ b/mm/backing-dev.c
@@ -1020,23 +1020,18 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(congestion_wait);
 
 /**
  * wait_iff_congested - Conditionally wait for a backing_dev to become uncongested or a pgdat to complete writes
- * @pgdat: A pgdat to check if it is heavily congested
  * @sync: SYNC or ASYNC IO
  * @timeout: timeout in jiffies
  *
- * In the event of a congested backing_dev (any backing_dev) and the given
- * @pgdat has experienced recent congestion, this waits for up to @timeout
- * jiffies for either a BDI to exit congestion of the given @sync queue
- * or a write to complete.
- *
- * In the absence of pgdat congestion, cond_resched() is called to yield
- * the processor if necessary but otherwise does not sleep.
+ * In the event of a congested backing_dev (any backing_dev) this waits
+ * for up to @timeout jiffies for either a BDI to exit congestion of the
+ * given @sync queue or a write to complete.
  *
  * The return value is 0 if the sleep is for the full timeout. Otherwise,
  * it is the number of jiffies that were still remaining when the function
  * returned. return_value == timeout implies the function did not sleep.
  */
-long wait_iff_congested(struct pglist_data *pgdat, int sync, long timeout)
+long wait_iff_congested(int sync, long timeout)
 {
 	long ret;
 	unsigned long start = jiffies;
@@ -1044,12 +1039,10 @@ long wait_iff_congested(struct pglist_data *pgdat, int sync, long timeout)
 	wait_queue_head_t *wqh = &congestion_wqh[sync];
 
 	/*
-	 * If there is no congestion, or heavy congestion is not being
-	 * encountered in the current pgdat, yield if necessary instead
+	 * If there is no congestion, yield if necessary instead
 	 * of sleeping on the congestion queue
 	 */
-	if (atomic_read(&nr_wb_congested[sync]) == 0 ||
-	    !test_bit(PGDAT_CONGESTED, &pgdat->flags)) {
+	if (atomic_read(&nr_wb_congested[sync]) == 0) {
 		cond_resched();
 
 		/* In case we scheduled, work out time remaining */
diff --git a/mm/vmscan.c b/mm/vmscan.c
index 1ecc648b6191..e411385b304a 100644
--- a/mm/vmscan.c
+++ b/mm/vmscan.c
@@ -200,6 +200,29 @@ static bool sane_reclaim(struct scan_control *sc)
 #endif
 	return false;
 }
+
+static void set_memcg_congestion(pg_data_t *pgdat,
+				struct mem_cgroup *memcg,
+				bool congested)
+{
+	struct mem_cgroup_per_node *mn;
+
+	if (!memcg)
+		return;
+
+	mn = mem_cgroup_nodeinfo(memcg, pgdat->node_id);
+	WRITE_ONCE(mn->congested, congested);
+}
+
+static bool memcg_congested(pg_data_t *pgdat,
+			struct mem_cgroup *memcg)
+{
+	struct mem_cgroup_per_node *mn;
+
+	mn = mem_cgroup_nodeinfo(memcg, pgdat->node_id);
+	return READ_ONCE(mn->congested);
+
+}
 #else
 static bool global_reclaim(struct scan_control *sc)
 {
@@ -210,6 +233,18 @@ static bool sane_reclaim(struct scan_control *sc)
 {
 	return true;
 }
+
+static inline void set_memcg_congestion(struct pglist_data *pgdat,
+				struct mem_cgroup *memcg, bool congested)
+{
+}
+
+static inline bool memcg_congested(struct pglist_data *pgdat,
+			struct mem_cgroup *memcg)
+{
+	return false;
+
+}
 #endif
 
 /*
@@ -2474,6 +2509,12 @@ static inline bool should_continue_reclaim(struct pglist_data *pgdat,
 	return true;
 }
 
+static bool pgdat_memcg_congested(pg_data_t *pgdat, struct mem_cgroup *memcg)
+{
+	return test_bit(PGDAT_CONGESTED, &pgdat->flags) ||
+		(memcg && memcg_congested(pgdat, memcg));
+}
+
 static bool shrink_node(pg_data_t *pgdat, struct scan_control *sc)
 {
 	struct reclaim_state *reclaim_state = current->reclaim_state;
@@ -2556,29 +2597,27 @@ static bool shrink_node(pg_data_t *pgdat, struct scan_control *sc)
 		if (sc->nr_reclaimed - nr_reclaimed)
 			reclaimable = true;
 
-		/*
-		 * If reclaim is isolating dirty pages under writeback, it
-		 * implies that the long-lived page allocation rate is exceeding
-		 * the page laundering rate. Either the global limits are not
-		 * being effective at throttling processes due to the page
-		 * distribution throughout zones or there is heavy usage of a
-		 * slow backing device. The only option is to throttle from
-		 * reclaim context which is not ideal as there is no guarantee
-		 * the dirtying process is throttled in the same way
-		 * balance_dirty_pages() manages.
-		 *
-		 * Once a node is flagged PGDAT_WRITEBACK, kswapd will count the
-		 * number of pages under pages flagged for immediate reclaim and
-		 * stall if any are encountered in the nr_immediate check below.
-		 */
-		if (sc->nr.writeback && sc->nr.writeback == sc->nr.taken)
-			set_bit(PGDAT_WRITEBACK, &pgdat->flags);
+		if (current_is_kswapd()) {
+			/*
+			 * If reclaim is isolating dirty pages under writeback,
+			 * it implies that the long-lived page allocation rate
+			 * is exceeding the page laundering rate. Either the
+			 * global limits are not being effective at throttling
+			 * processes due to the page distribution throughout
+			 * zones or there is heavy usage of a slow backing
+			 * device. The only option is to throttle from reclaim
+			 * context which is not ideal as there is no guarantee
+			 * the dirtying process is throttled in the same way
+			 * balance_dirty_pages() manages.
+			 *
+			 * Once a node is flagged PGDAT_WRITEBACK, kswapd will
+			 * count the number of pages under pages flagged for
+			 * immediate reclaim and stall if any are encountered
+			 * in the nr_immediate check below.
+			 */
+			if (sc->nr.writeback && sc->nr.writeback == sc->nr.taken)
+				set_bit(PGDAT_WRITEBACK, &pgdat->flags);
 
-		/*
-		 * Legacy memcg will stall in page writeback so avoid forcibly
-		 * stalling here.
-		 */
-		if (sane_reclaim(sc)) {
 			/*
 			 * Tag a node as congested if all the dirty pages
 			 * scanned were backed by a congested BDI and
@@ -2601,6 +2640,14 @@ static bool shrink_node(pg_data_t *pgdat, struct scan_control *sc)
 				congestion_wait(BLK_RW_ASYNC, HZ/10);
 		}
 
+		/*
+		 * Legacy memcg will stall in page writeback so avoid forcibly
+		 * stalling in wait_iff_congested().
+		 */
+		if (!global_reclaim(sc) && sane_reclaim(sc) &&
+		    sc->nr.dirty && sc->nr.dirty == sc->nr.congested)
+			set_memcg_congestion(pgdat, root, true);
+
 		/*
 		 * Stall direct reclaim for IO completions if underlying BDIs
 		 * and node is congested. Allow kswapd to continue until it
@@ -2608,8 +2655,8 @@ static bool shrink_node(pg_data_t *pgdat, struct scan_control *sc)
 		 * the LRU too quickly.
 		 */
 		if (!sc->hibernation_mode && !current_is_kswapd() &&
-		    current_may_throttle())
-			wait_iff_congested(pgdat, BLK_RW_ASYNC, HZ/10);
+		   current_may_throttle() && pgdat_memcg_congested(pgdat, root))
+			wait_iff_congested(BLK_RW_ASYNC, HZ/10);
 
 	} while (should_continue_reclaim(pgdat, sc->nr_reclaimed - nr_reclaimed,
 					 sc->nr_scanned - nr_scanned, sc));
@@ -2826,6 +2873,7 @@ retry:
 			continue;
 		last_pgdat = zone->zone_pgdat;
 		snapshot_refaults(sc->target_mem_cgroup, zone->zone_pgdat);
+		set_memcg_congestion(last_pgdat, sc->target_mem_cgroup, false);
 	}
 
 	delayacct_freepages_end();