diff --git a/mm/hugetlb.c b/mm/hugetlb.c
index dd30f22b35e0..246192929a2d 100644
--- a/mm/hugetlb.c
+++ b/mm/hugetlb.c
@@ -1172,6 +1172,7 @@ static void return_unused_surplus_pages(struct hstate *h,
 	while (nr_pages--) {
 		if (!free_pool_huge_page(h, &node_states[N_MEMORY], 1))
 			break;
+		cond_resched_lock(&hugetlb_lock);
 	}
 }