diff --git a/include/linux/sched.h b/include/linux/sched.h
index 1c4f3e9b9bc5..984c3b295978 100644
--- a/include/linux/sched.h
+++ b/include/linux/sched.h
@@ -1527,6 +1527,7 @@ struct task_struct {
 	 */
 	int nr_dirtied;
 	int nr_dirtied_pause;
+	unsigned long dirty_paused_when; /* start of a write-and-pause period */
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_LATENCYTOP
 	int latency_record_count;
diff --git a/include/trace/events/writeback.h b/include/trace/events/writeback.h
index 99d1d0decf88..8588a8918023 100644
--- a/include/trace/events/writeback.h
+++ b/include/trace/events/writeback.h
@@ -300,12 +300,13 @@ TRACE_EVENT(balance_dirty_pages,
 		 unsigned long dirty_ratelimit,
 		 unsigned long task_ratelimit,
 		 unsigned long dirtied,
+		 unsigned long period,
 		 long pause,
 		 unsigned long start_time),
 
 	TP_ARGS(bdi, thresh, bg_thresh, dirty, bdi_thresh, bdi_dirty,
 		dirty_ratelimit, task_ratelimit,
-		dirtied, pause, start_time),
+		dirtied, period, pause, start_time),
 
 	TP_STRUCT__entry(
 		__array(	 char,	bdi, 32)
@@ -320,6 +321,8 @@ TRACE_EVENT(balance_dirty_pages,
 		__field(unsigned int,	dirtied_pause)
 		__field(unsigned long,	paused)
 		__field(	 long,	pause)
+		__field(unsigned long,	period)
+		__field(	 long,	think)
 	),
 
 	TP_fast_assign(
@@ -336,6 +339,9 @@ TRACE_EVENT(balance_dirty_pages,
 		__entry->task_ratelimit	= KBps(task_ratelimit);
 		__entry->dirtied	= dirtied;
 		__entry->dirtied_pause	= current->nr_dirtied_pause;
+		__entry->think		= current->dirty_paused_when == 0 ? 0 :
+			 (long)(jiffies - current->dirty_paused_when) * 1000/HZ;
+		__entry->period		= period * 1000 / HZ;
 		__entry->pause		= pause * 1000 / HZ;
 		__entry->paused		= (jiffies - start_time) * 1000 / HZ;
 	),
@@ -346,7 +352,7 @@ TRACE_EVENT(balance_dirty_pages,
 		  "bdi_setpoint=%lu bdi_dirty=%lu "
 		  "dirty_ratelimit=%lu task_ratelimit=%lu "
 		  "dirtied=%u dirtied_pause=%u "
-		  "paused=%lu pause=%ld",
+		  "paused=%lu pause=%ld period=%lu think=%ld",
 		  __entry->bdi,
 		  __entry->limit,
 		  __entry->setpoint,
@@ -358,7 +364,9 @@ TRACE_EVENT(balance_dirty_pages,
 		  __entry->dirtied,
 		  __entry->dirtied_pause,
 		  __entry->paused,	/* ms */
-		  __entry->pause	/* ms */
+		  __entry->pause,	/* ms */
+		  __entry->period,	/* ms */
+		  __entry->think	/* ms */
 	  )
 );
 
diff --git a/kernel/fork.c b/kernel/fork.c
index da4a6a10d088..f8668cf6a32d 100644
--- a/kernel/fork.c
+++ b/kernel/fork.c
@@ -1296,6 +1296,7 @@ static struct task_struct *copy_process(unsigned long clone_flags,
 
 	p->nr_dirtied = 0;
 	p->nr_dirtied_pause = 128 >> (PAGE_SHIFT - 10);
+	p->dirty_paused_when = 0;
 
 	/*
 	 * Ok, make it visible to the rest of the system.
diff --git a/mm/page-writeback.c b/mm/page-writeback.c
index 96b3e7aa705c..491932155825 100644
--- a/mm/page-writeback.c
+++ b/mm/page-writeback.c
@@ -1016,6 +1016,7 @@ static void balance_dirty_pages(struct address_space *mapping,
 	unsigned long background_thresh;
 	unsigned long dirty_thresh;
 	unsigned long bdi_thresh;
+	long period;
 	long pause = 0;
 	long uninitialized_var(max_pause);
 	bool dirty_exceeded = false;
@@ -1026,6 +1027,8 @@ static void balance_dirty_pages(struct address_space *mapping,
 	unsigned long start_time = jiffies;
 
 	for (;;) {
+		unsigned long now = jiffies;
+
 		/*
 		 * Unstable writes are a feature of certain networked
 		 * filesystems (i.e. NFS) in which data may have been
@@ -1045,8 +1048,11 @@ static void balance_dirty_pages(struct address_space *mapping,
 		 */
 		freerun = dirty_freerun_ceiling(dirty_thresh,
 						background_thresh);
-		if (nr_dirty <= freerun)
+		if (nr_dirty <= freerun) {
+			current->dirty_paused_when = now;
+			current->nr_dirtied = 0;
 			break;
+		}
 
 		if (unlikely(!writeback_in_progress(bdi)))
 			bdi_start_background_writeback(bdi);
@@ -1104,10 +1110,21 @@ static void balance_dirty_pages(struct address_space *mapping,
 		task_ratelimit = ((u64)dirty_ratelimit * pos_ratio) >>
 							RATELIMIT_CALC_SHIFT;
 		if (unlikely(task_ratelimit == 0)) {
+			period = max_pause;
 			pause = max_pause;
 			goto pause;
 		}
-		pause = HZ * pages_dirtied / task_ratelimit;
+		period = HZ * pages_dirtied / task_ratelimit;
+		pause = period;
+		if (current->dirty_paused_when)
+			pause -= now - current->dirty_paused_when;
+		/*
+		 * For less than 1s think time (ext3/4 may block the dirtier
+		 * for up to 800ms from time to time on 1-HDD; so does xfs,
+		 * however at much less frequency), try to compensate it in
+		 * future periods by updating the virtual time; otherwise just
+		 * do a reset, as it may be a light dirtier.
+		 */
 		if (unlikely(pause <= 0)) {
 			trace_balance_dirty_pages(bdi,
 						  dirty_thresh,
@@ -1118,8 +1135,16 @@ static void balance_dirty_pages(struct address_space *mapping,
 						  dirty_ratelimit,
 						  task_ratelimit,
 						  pages_dirtied,
+						  period,
 						  pause,
 						  start_time);
+			if (pause < -HZ) {
+				current->dirty_paused_when = now;
+				current->nr_dirtied = 0;
+			} else if (period) {
+				current->dirty_paused_when += period;
+				current->nr_dirtied = 0;
+			}
 			pause = 1; /* avoid resetting nr_dirtied_pause below */
 			break;
 		}
@@ -1135,11 +1160,15 @@ pause:
 					  dirty_ratelimit,
 					  task_ratelimit,
 					  pages_dirtied,
+					  period,
 					  pause,
 					  start_time);
 		__set_current_state(TASK_KILLABLE);
 		io_schedule_timeout(pause);
 
+		current->dirty_paused_when = now + pause;
+		current->nr_dirtied = 0;
+
 		/*
 		 * This is typically equal to (nr_dirty < dirty_thresh) and can
 		 * also keep "1000+ dd on a slow USB stick" under control.
@@ -1167,11 +1196,10 @@ pause:
 	if (!dirty_exceeded && bdi->dirty_exceeded)
 		bdi->dirty_exceeded = 0;
 
-	current->nr_dirtied = 0;
 	if (pause == 0) { /* in freerun area */
 		current->nr_dirtied_pause =
 				dirty_poll_interval(nr_dirty, dirty_thresh);
-	} else if (pause <= max_pause / 4 &&
+	} else if (period <= max_pause / 4 &&
 		   pages_dirtied >= current->nr_dirtied_pause) {
 		current->nr_dirtied_pause = clamp_val(
 					dirty_ratelimit * (max_pause / 2) / HZ,