diff --git a/mm/vmscan.c b/mm/vmscan.c
index 8ad39bbc79e67eaff24c42201ae2470ffc21d0a7..c3c1c6ac62da67f233b4c146505e35e919ea97a9 100644
--- a/mm/vmscan.c
+++ b/mm/vmscan.c
@@ -3652,7 +3652,7 @@ int kswapd_run(int nid)
 	pgdat->kswapd = kthread_run(kswapd, pgdat, "kswapd%d", nid);
 	if (IS_ERR(pgdat->kswapd)) {
 		/* failure at boot is fatal */
-		BUG_ON(system_state == SYSTEM_BOOTING);
+		BUG_ON(system_state < SYSTEM_RUNNING);
 		pr_err("Failed to start kswapd on node %d\n", nid);
 		ret = PTR_ERR(pgdat->kswapd);
 		pgdat->kswapd = NULL;