diff --git a/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c b/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c
index 8efa6bd5703c..8208a28ea342 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_core.c
@@ -86,10 +86,12 @@ static DEFINE_MUTEX(nf_conntrack_mutex);
 /* clamp timeouts to this value (TCP unacked) */
 #define GC_SCAN_INTERVAL_CLAMP	(300ul * HZ)
 
-/* large initial bias so that we don't scan often just because we have
- * three entries with a 1s timeout.
+/* Initial bias pretending we have 100 entries at the upper bound so we don't
+ * wakeup often just because we have three entries with a 1s timeout while still
+ * allowing non-idle machines to wakeup more often when needed.
  */
-#define GC_SCAN_INTERVAL_INIT	INT_MAX
+#define GC_SCAN_INITIAL_COUNT	100
+#define GC_SCAN_INTERVAL_INIT	GC_SCAN_INTERVAL_MAX
 
 #define GC_SCAN_MAX_DURATION	msecs_to_jiffies(10)
 #define GC_SCAN_EXPIRED_MAX	(64000u / HZ)
@@ -1477,7 +1479,7 @@ static void gc_worker(struct work_struct *work)
 
 	if (i == 0) {
 		gc_work->avg_timeout = GC_SCAN_INTERVAL_INIT;
-		gc_work->count = 1;
+		gc_work->count = GC_SCAN_INITIAL_COUNT;
 		gc_work->start_time = start_time;
 	}