diff --git a/mm/page_alloc.c b/mm/page_alloc.c
index 9404b38bcdc5..cb5723c491f0 100644
--- a/mm/page_alloc.c
+++ b/mm/page_alloc.c
@@ -1981,14 +1981,20 @@ static struct page *
 __alloc_pages_direct_compact(gfp_t gfp_mask, unsigned int order,
 	struct zonelist *zonelist, enum zone_type high_zoneidx,
 	nodemask_t *nodemask, int alloc_flags, struct zone *preferred_zone,
-	int migratetype, unsigned long *did_some_progress,
-	bool sync_migration)
+	int migratetype, bool sync_migration,
+	bool *deferred_compaction,
+	unsigned long *did_some_progress)
 {
 	struct page *page;
 
-	if (!order || compaction_deferred(preferred_zone))
+	if (!order)
 		return NULL;
 
+	if (compaction_deferred(preferred_zone)) {
+		*deferred_compaction = true;
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
 	current->flags |= PF_MEMALLOC;
 	*did_some_progress = try_to_compact_pages(zonelist, order, gfp_mask,
 						nodemask, sync_migration);
@@ -2016,7 +2022,13 @@ __alloc_pages_direct_compact(gfp_t gfp_mask, unsigned int order,
 		 * but not enough to satisfy watermarks.
 		 */
 		count_vm_event(COMPACTFAIL);
-		defer_compaction(preferred_zone);
+
+		/*
+		 * As async compaction considers a subset of pageblocks, only
+		 * defer if the failure was a sync compaction failure.
+		 */
+		if (sync_migration)
+			defer_compaction(preferred_zone);
 
 		cond_resched();
 	}
@@ -2028,8 +2040,9 @@ static inline struct page *
 __alloc_pages_direct_compact(gfp_t gfp_mask, unsigned int order,
 	struct zonelist *zonelist, enum zone_type high_zoneidx,
 	nodemask_t *nodemask, int alloc_flags, struct zone *preferred_zone,
-	int migratetype, unsigned long *did_some_progress,
-	bool sync_migration)
+	int migratetype, bool sync_migration,
+	bool *deferred_compaction,
+	unsigned long *did_some_progress)
 {
 	return NULL;
 }
@@ -2179,6 +2192,7 @@ __alloc_pages_slowpath(gfp_t gfp_mask, unsigned int order,
 	unsigned long pages_reclaimed = 0;
 	unsigned long did_some_progress;
 	bool sync_migration = false;
+	bool deferred_compaction = false;
 
 	/*
 	 * In the slowpath, we sanity check order to avoid ever trying to
@@ -2259,12 +2273,22 @@ rebalance:
 					zonelist, high_zoneidx,
 					nodemask,
 					alloc_flags, preferred_zone,
-					migratetype, &did_some_progress,
-					sync_migration);
+					migratetype, sync_migration,
+					&deferred_compaction,
+					&did_some_progress);
 	if (page)
 		goto got_pg;
 	sync_migration = true;
 
+	/*
+	 * If compaction is deferred for high-order allocations, it is because
+	 * sync compaction recently failed. In this is the case and the caller
+	 * has requested the system not be heavily disrupted, fail the
+	 * allocation now instead of entering direct reclaim
+	 */
+	if (deferred_compaction && (gfp_mask & __GFP_NO_KSWAPD))
+		goto nopage;
+
 	/* Try direct reclaim and then allocating */
 	page = __alloc_pages_direct_reclaim(gfp_mask, order,
 					zonelist, high_zoneidx,
@@ -2328,8 +2352,9 @@ rebalance:
 					zonelist, high_zoneidx,
 					nodemask,
 					alloc_flags, preferred_zone,
-					migratetype, &did_some_progress,
-					sync_migration);
+					migratetype, sync_migration,
+					&deferred_compaction,
+					&did_some_progress);
 		if (page)
 			goto got_pg;
 	}