diff --git a/security/selinux/ss/hashtab.c b/security/selinux/ss/hashtab.c
index ebfdaa31ee32..883f19d32c28 100644
--- a/security/selinux/ss/hashtab.c
+++ b/security/selinux/ss/hashtab.c
@@ -12,12 +12,29 @@
 
 static struct kmem_cache *hashtab_node_cachep;
 
+/*
+ * Here we simply round the number of elements up to the nearest power of two.
+ * I tried also other options like rouding down or rounding to the closest
+ * power of two (up or down based on which is closer), but I was unable to
+ * find any significant difference in lookup/insert performance that would
+ * justify switching to a different (less intuitive) formula. It could be that
+ * a different formula is actually more optimal, but any future changes here
+ * should be supported with performance/memory usage data.
+ *
+ * The total memory used by the htable arrays (only) with Fedora policy loaded
+ * is approximately 163 KB at the time of writing.
+ */
+static u32 hashtab_compute_size(u32 nel)
+{
+	return nel == 0 ? 0 : roundup_pow_of_two(nel);
+}
+
 struct hashtab *hashtab_create(u32 (*hash_value)(struct hashtab *h, const void *key),
 			       int (*keycmp)(struct hashtab *h, const void *key1, const void *key2),
-			       u32 size)
+			       u32 nel_hint)
 {
 	struct hashtab *p;
-	u32 i;
+	u32 i, size = hashtab_compute_size(nel_hint);
 
 	p = kzalloc(sizeof(*p), GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!p)
@@ -27,6 +44,9 @@ struct hashtab *hashtab_create(u32 (*hash_value)(struct hashtab *h, const void *
 	p->nel = 0;
 	p->hash_value = hash_value;
 	p->keycmp = keycmp;
+	if (!size)
+		return p;
+
 	p->htable = kmalloc_array(size, sizeof(*p->htable), GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!p->htable) {
 		kfree(p);
@@ -46,7 +66,7 @@ int hashtab_insert(struct hashtab *h, void *key, void *datum)
 
 	cond_resched();
 
-	if (!h || h->nel == HASHTAB_MAX_NODES)
+	if (!h || !h->size || h->nel == HASHTAB_MAX_NODES)
 		return -EINVAL;
 
 	hvalue = h->hash_value(h, key);
@@ -82,7 +102,7 @@ void *hashtab_search(struct hashtab *h, const void *key)
 	u32 hvalue;
 	struct hashtab_node *cur;
 
-	if (!h)
+	if (!h || !h->size)
 		return NULL;
 
 	hvalue = h->hash_value(h, key);
diff --git a/security/selinux/ss/hashtab.h b/security/selinux/ss/hashtab.h
index 3e3e42bfd150..dde54d9ff01c 100644
--- a/security/selinux/ss/hashtab.h
+++ b/security/selinux/ss/hashtab.h
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ struct hashtab_info {
  */
 struct hashtab *hashtab_create(u32 (*hash_value)(struct hashtab *h, const void *key),
 			       int (*keycmp)(struct hashtab *h, const void *key1, const void *key2),
-			       u32 size);
+			       u32 nel_hint);
 
 /*
  * Inserts the specified (key, datum) pair into the specified hash table.
diff --git a/security/selinux/ss/policydb.c b/security/selinux/ss/policydb.c
index 32b3a8acf96f..7ca8c74efba3 100644
--- a/security/selinux/ss/policydb.c
+++ b/security/selinux/ss/policydb.c
@@ -56,17 +56,6 @@ static const char *symtab_name[SYM_NUM] = {
 };
 #endif
 
-static unsigned int symtab_sizes[SYM_NUM] = {
-	2,
-	32,
-	16,
-	512,
-	128,
-	16,
-	16,
-	16,
-};
-
 struct policydb_compat_info {
 	int version;
 	int sym_num;
@@ -478,20 +467,10 @@ static int policydb_init(struct policydb *p)
 
 	memset(p, 0, sizeof(*p));
 
-	for (i = 0; i < SYM_NUM; i++) {
-		rc = symtab_init(&p->symtab[i], symtab_sizes[i]);
-		if (rc)
-			goto out;
-	}
-
 	rc = avtab_init(&p->te_avtab);
 	if (rc)
 		goto out;
 
-	rc = roles_init(p);
-	if (rc)
-		goto out;
-
 	rc = cond_policydb_init(p);
 	if (rc)
 		goto out;
@@ -503,20 +482,12 @@ static int policydb_init(struct policydb *p)
 		goto out;
 	}
 
-	p->range_tr = hashtab_create(rangetr_hash, rangetr_cmp, 256);
-	if (!p->range_tr) {
-		rc = -ENOMEM;
-		goto out;
-	}
-
 	ebitmap_init(&p->filename_trans_ttypes);
 	ebitmap_init(&p->policycaps);
 	ebitmap_init(&p->permissive_map);
 
 	return 0;
 out:
-	hashtab_destroy(p->filename_trans);
-	hashtab_destroy(p->range_tr);
 	for (i = 0; i < SYM_NUM; i++) {
 		hashtab_map(p->symtab[i].table, destroy_f[i], NULL);
 		hashtab_destroy(p->symtab[i].table);
@@ -1142,12 +1113,12 @@ static int common_read(struct policydb *p, struct hashtab *h, void *fp)
 
 	len = le32_to_cpu(buf[0]);
 	comdatum->value = le32_to_cpu(buf[1]);
+	nel = le32_to_cpu(buf[3]);
 
-	rc = symtab_init(&comdatum->permissions, PERM_SYMTAB_SIZE);
+	rc = symtab_init(&comdatum->permissions, nel);
 	if (rc)
 		goto bad;
 	comdatum->permissions.nprim = le32_to_cpu(buf[2]);
-	nel = le32_to_cpu(buf[3]);
 
 	rc = str_read(&key, GFP_KERNEL, fp, len);
 	if (rc)
@@ -1308,12 +1279,12 @@ static int class_read(struct policydb *p, struct hashtab *h, void *fp)
 	len = le32_to_cpu(buf[0]);
 	len2 = le32_to_cpu(buf[1]);
 	cladatum->value = le32_to_cpu(buf[2]);
+	nel = le32_to_cpu(buf[4]);
 
-	rc = symtab_init(&cladatum->permissions, PERM_SYMTAB_SIZE);
+	rc = symtab_init(&cladatum->permissions, nel);
 	if (rc)
 		goto bad;
 	cladatum->permissions.nprim = le32_to_cpu(buf[3]);
-	nel = le32_to_cpu(buf[4]);
 
 	ncons = le32_to_cpu(buf[5]);
 
@@ -1826,6 +1797,11 @@ static int range_read(struct policydb *p, void *fp)
 		return rc;
 
 	nel = le32_to_cpu(buf[0]);
+
+	p->range_tr = hashtab_create(rangetr_hash, rangetr_cmp, nel);
+	if (!p->range_tr)
+		return -ENOMEM;
+
 	for (i = 0; i < nel; i++) {
 		rc = -ENOMEM;
 		rt = kzalloc(sizeof(*rt), GFP_KERNEL);
@@ -2418,6 +2394,17 @@ int policydb_read(struct policydb *p, void *fp)
 			goto bad;
 		nprim = le32_to_cpu(buf[0]);
 		nel = le32_to_cpu(buf[1]);
+
+		rc = symtab_init(&p->symtab[i], nel);
+		if (rc)
+			goto out;
+
+		if (i == SYM_ROLES) {
+			rc = roles_init(p);
+			if (rc)
+				goto out;
+		}
+
 		for (j = 0; j < nel; j++) {
 			rc = read_f[i](p, p->symtab[i].table, fp);
 			if (rc)
diff --git a/security/selinux/ss/policydb.h b/security/selinux/ss/policydb.h
index 41ad78a1f17b..72e2932fb12d 100644
--- a/security/selinux/ss/policydb.h
+++ b/security/selinux/ss/policydb.h
@@ -321,8 +321,6 @@ extern int policydb_role_isvalid(struct policydb *p, unsigned int role);
 extern int policydb_read(struct policydb *p, void *fp);
 extern int policydb_write(struct policydb *p, void *fp);
 
-#define PERM_SYMTAB_SIZE 32
-
 #define POLICYDB_CONFIG_MLS    1
 
 /* the config flags related to unknown classes/perms are bits 2 and 3 */