diff --git a/mm/vmscan.c b/mm/vmscan.c
index 3427f98b3586..b1a98e0657ea 100644
--- a/mm/vmscan.c
+++ b/mm/vmscan.c
@@ -2716,6 +2716,29 @@ static bool prepare_kswapd_sleep(pg_data_t *pgdat, int order, long remaining,
 	return pgdat_balanced(pgdat, order, classzone_idx);
 }
 
+/*
+ * kswapd shrinks the zone by the number of pages required to reach
+ * the high watermark.
+ */
+static void kswapd_shrink_zone(struct zone *zone,
+			       struct scan_control *sc,
+			       unsigned long lru_pages)
+{
+	unsigned long nr_slab;
+	struct reclaim_state *reclaim_state = current->reclaim_state;
+	struct shrink_control shrink = {
+		.gfp_mask = sc->gfp_mask,
+	};
+
+	/* Reclaim above the high watermark. */
+	sc->nr_to_reclaim = max(SWAP_CLUSTER_MAX, high_wmark_pages(zone));
+	shrink_zone(zone, sc);
+
+	reclaim_state->reclaimed_slab = 0;
+	nr_slab = shrink_slab(&shrink, sc->nr_scanned, lru_pages);
+	sc->nr_reclaimed += reclaim_state->reclaimed_slab;
+}
+
 /*
  * For kswapd, balance_pgdat() will work across all this node's zones until
  * they are all at high_wmark_pages(zone).
@@ -2743,24 +2766,15 @@ static unsigned long balance_pgdat(pg_data_t *pgdat, int order,
 	bool pgdat_is_balanced = false;
 	int i;
 	int end_zone = 0;	/* Inclusive.  0 = ZONE_DMA */
-	struct reclaim_state *reclaim_state = current->reclaim_state;
 	unsigned long nr_soft_reclaimed;
 	unsigned long nr_soft_scanned;
 	struct scan_control sc = {
 		.gfp_mask = GFP_KERNEL,
 		.may_unmap = 1,
 		.may_swap = 1,
-		/*
-		 * kswapd doesn't want to be bailed out while reclaim. because
-		 * we want to put equal scanning pressure on each zone.
-		 */
-		.nr_to_reclaim = ULONG_MAX,
 		.order = order,
 		.target_mem_cgroup = NULL,
 	};
-	struct shrink_control shrink = {
-		.gfp_mask = sc.gfp_mask,
-	};
 loop_again:
 	sc.priority = DEF_PRIORITY;
 	sc.nr_reclaimed = 0;
@@ -2880,13 +2894,8 @@ loop_again:
 
 			if ((buffer_heads_over_limit && is_highmem_idx(i)) ||
 			    !zone_balanced(zone, testorder,
-					   balance_gap, end_zone)) {
-				shrink_zone(zone, &sc);
-
-				reclaim_state->reclaimed_slab = 0;
-				shrink_slab(&shrink, sc.nr_scanned, lru_pages);
-				sc.nr_reclaimed += reclaim_state->reclaimed_slab;
-			}
+					   balance_gap, end_zone))
+				kswapd_shrink_zone(zone, &sc, lru_pages);
 
 			/*
 			 * If we're getting trouble reclaiming, start doing