diff --git a/arch/powerpc/kernel/smp.c b/arch/powerpc/kernel/smp.c
index 8cac1eb41466..55c924b65f71 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/kernel/smp.c
+++ b/arch/powerpc/kernel/smp.c
@@ -565,7 +565,7 @@ int __cpu_up(unsigned int cpu, struct task_struct *tidle)
 		smp_ops->give_timebase();
 
 	/* Wait until cpu puts itself in the online & active maps */
-	while (!cpu_online(cpu) || !cpu_active(cpu))
+	while (!cpu_online(cpu))
 		cpu_relax();
 
 	return 0;
diff --git a/arch/s390/kernel/smp.c b/arch/s390/kernel/smp.c
index 40a6b4f9c36c..7b89a7572100 100644
--- a/arch/s390/kernel/smp.c
+++ b/arch/s390/kernel/smp.c
@@ -832,7 +832,7 @@ int __cpu_up(unsigned int cpu, struct task_struct *tidle)
 	pcpu_attach_task(pcpu, tidle);
 	pcpu_start_fn(pcpu, smp_start_secondary, NULL);
 	/* Wait until cpu puts itself in the online & active maps */
-	while (!cpu_online(cpu) || !cpu_active(cpu))
+	while (!cpu_online(cpu))
 		cpu_relax();
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/include/linux/cpumask.h b/include/linux/cpumask.h
index 40cee6b77a93..e828cf65d7df 100644
--- a/include/linux/cpumask.h
+++ b/include/linux/cpumask.h
@@ -743,12 +743,10 @@ set_cpu_present(unsigned int cpu, bool present)
 static inline void
 set_cpu_online(unsigned int cpu, bool online)
 {
-	if (online) {
+	if (online)
 		cpumask_set_cpu(cpu, &__cpu_online_mask);
-		cpumask_set_cpu(cpu, &__cpu_active_mask);
-	} else {
+	else
 		cpumask_clear_cpu(cpu, &__cpu_online_mask);
-	}
 }
 
 static inline void
diff --git a/kernel/sched/core.c b/kernel/sched/core.c
index 8b489fcac37b..8bfd7d4f1c21 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/core.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/core.c
@@ -1082,13 +1082,21 @@ void do_set_cpus_allowed(struct task_struct *p, const struct cpumask *new_mask)
 static int __set_cpus_allowed_ptr(struct task_struct *p,
 				  const struct cpumask *new_mask, bool check)
 {
+	const struct cpumask *cpu_valid_mask = cpu_active_mask;
+	unsigned int dest_cpu;
 	unsigned long flags;
 	struct rq *rq;
-	unsigned int dest_cpu;
 	int ret = 0;
 
 	rq = task_rq_lock(p, &flags);
 
+	if (p->flags & PF_KTHREAD) {
+		/*
+		 * Kernel threads are allowed on online && !active CPUs
+		 */
+		cpu_valid_mask = cpu_online_mask;
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * Must re-check here, to close a race against __kthread_bind(),
 	 * sched_setaffinity() is not guaranteed to observe the flag.
@@ -1101,18 +1109,28 @@ static int __set_cpus_allowed_ptr(struct task_struct *p,
 	if (cpumask_equal(&p->cpus_allowed, new_mask))
 		goto out;
 
-	if (!cpumask_intersects(new_mask, cpu_active_mask)) {
+	if (!cpumask_intersects(new_mask, cpu_valid_mask)) {
 		ret = -EINVAL;
 		goto out;
 	}
 
 	do_set_cpus_allowed(p, new_mask);
 
+	if (p->flags & PF_KTHREAD) {
+		/*
+		 * For kernel threads that do indeed end up on online &&
+		 * !active we want to ensure they are strict per-cpu threads.
+		 */
+		WARN_ON(cpumask_intersects(new_mask, cpu_online_mask) &&
+			!cpumask_intersects(new_mask, cpu_active_mask) &&
+			p->nr_cpus_allowed != 1);
+	}
+
 	/* Can the task run on the task's current CPU? If so, we're done */
 	if (cpumask_test_cpu(task_cpu(p), new_mask))
 		goto out;
 
-	dest_cpu = cpumask_any_and(cpu_active_mask, new_mask);
+	dest_cpu = cpumask_any_and(cpu_valid_mask, new_mask);
 	if (task_running(rq, p) || p->state == TASK_WAKING) {
 		struct migration_arg arg = { p, dest_cpu };
 		/* Need help from migration thread: drop lock and wait. */
@@ -1431,6 +1449,25 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(kick_process);
 
 /*
  * ->cpus_allowed is protected by both rq->lock and p->pi_lock
+ *
+ * A few notes on cpu_active vs cpu_online:
+ *
+ *  - cpu_active must be a subset of cpu_online
+ *
+ *  - on cpu-up we allow per-cpu kthreads on the online && !active cpu,
+ *    see __set_cpus_allowed_ptr(). At this point the newly online
+ *    cpu isn't yet part of the sched domains, and balancing will not
+ *    see it.
+ *
+ *  - on cpu-down we clear cpu_active() to mask the sched domains and
+ *    avoid the load balancer to place new tasks on the to be removed
+ *    cpu. Existing tasks will remain running there and will be taken
+ *    off.
+ *
+ * This means that fallback selection must not select !active CPUs.
+ * And can assume that any active CPU must be online. Conversely
+ * select_task_rq() below may allow selection of !active CPUs in order
+ * to satisfy the above rules.
  */
 static int select_fallback_rq(int cpu, struct task_struct *p)
 {
@@ -1449,8 +1486,6 @@ static int select_fallback_rq(int cpu, struct task_struct *p)
 
 		/* Look for allowed, online CPU in same node. */
 		for_each_cpu(dest_cpu, nodemask) {
-			if (!cpu_online(dest_cpu))
-				continue;
 			if (!cpu_active(dest_cpu))
 				continue;
 			if (cpumask_test_cpu(dest_cpu, tsk_cpus_allowed(p)))
@@ -1461,8 +1496,6 @@ static int select_fallback_rq(int cpu, struct task_struct *p)
 	for (;;) {
 		/* Any allowed, online CPU? */
 		for_each_cpu(dest_cpu, tsk_cpus_allowed(p)) {
-			if (!cpu_online(dest_cpu))
-				continue;
 			if (!cpu_active(dest_cpu))
 				continue;
 			goto out;
@@ -1514,6 +1547,8 @@ int select_task_rq(struct task_struct *p, int cpu, int sd_flags, int wake_flags)
 
 	if (p->nr_cpus_allowed > 1)
 		cpu = p->sched_class->select_task_rq(p, cpu, sd_flags, wake_flags);
+	else
+		cpu = cpumask_any(tsk_cpus_allowed(p));
 
 	/*
 	 * In order not to call set_task_cpu() on a blocking task we need