diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
index cc4a507d7ca4..842f9189537b 100644
--- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
+++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
@@ -520,6 +520,12 @@ enum pgdat_flags {
 	PGDAT_RECLAIM_LOCKED,		/* prevents concurrent reclaim */
 };
 
+enum zone_flags {
+	ZONE_BOOSTED_WATERMARK,		/* zone recently boosted watermarks.
+					 * Cleared when kswapd is woken.
+					 */
+};
+
 static inline unsigned long zone_managed_pages(struct zone *zone)
 {
 	return (unsigned long)atomic_long_read(&zone->managed_pages);
diff --git a/mm/page_alloc.c b/mm/page_alloc.c
index cde5dac6229a..d295c9bc01a8 100644
--- a/mm/page_alloc.c
+++ b/mm/page_alloc.c
@@ -2214,7 +2214,7 @@ static void steal_suitable_fallback(struct zone *zone, struct page *page,
 	 */
 	boost_watermark(zone);
 	if (alloc_flags & ALLOC_KSWAPD)
-		wakeup_kswapd(zone, 0, 0, zone_idx(zone));
+		set_bit(ZONE_BOOSTED_WATERMARK, &zone->flags);
 
 	/* We are not allowed to try stealing from the whole block */
 	if (!whole_block)
@@ -3102,6 +3102,12 @@ struct page *rmqueue(struct zone *preferred_zone,
 	local_irq_restore(flags);
 
 out:
+	/* Separate test+clear to avoid unnecessary atomics */
+	if (test_bit(ZONE_BOOSTED_WATERMARK, &zone->flags)) {
+		clear_bit(ZONE_BOOSTED_WATERMARK, &zone->flags);
+		wakeup_kswapd(zone, 0, 0, zone_idx(zone));
+	}
+
 	VM_BUG_ON_PAGE(page && bad_range(zone, page), page);
 	return page;