diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_bmap_util.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_bmap_util.c
index 296160b8e78c694c811e4e4391a06ced33bb3eef..47a9daa7b4e64fa3a92ae9b11c9f493d21f500c4 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_bmap_util.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_bmap_util.c
@@ -258,14 +258,23 @@ xfs_bmapi_allocate_worker(
 	struct xfs_bmalloca	*args = container_of(work,
 						struct xfs_bmalloca, work);
 	unsigned long		pflags;
+	unsigned long		new_pflags = PF_FSTRANS;
 
-	/* we are in a transaction context here */
-	current_set_flags_nested(&pflags, PF_FSTRANS);
+	/*
+	 * we are in a transaction context here, but may also be doing work
+	 * in kswapd context, and hence we may need to inherit that state
+	 * temporarily to ensure that we don't block waiting for memory reclaim
+	 * in any way.
+	 */
+	if (args->kswapd)
+		new_pflags |= PF_MEMALLOC | PF_SWAPWRITE | PF_KSWAPD;
+
+	current_set_flags_nested(&pflags, new_pflags);
 
 	args->result = __xfs_bmapi_allocate(args);
 	complete(args->done);
 
-	current_restore_flags_nested(&pflags, PF_FSTRANS);
+	current_restore_flags_nested(&pflags, new_pflags);
 }
 
 /*
@@ -284,6 +293,7 @@ xfs_bmapi_allocate(
 
 
 	args->done = &done;
+	args->kswapd = current_is_kswapd();
 	INIT_WORK_ONSTACK(&args->work, xfs_bmapi_allocate_worker);
 	queue_work(xfs_alloc_wq, &args->work);
 	wait_for_completion(&done);
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_bmap_util.h b/fs/xfs/xfs_bmap_util.h
index 935ed2b24edfb05b4d5893dccf7cebdb09a374ed..075f72232a64a92de08665d348dd09a7ad6bd1d4 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_bmap_util.h
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_bmap_util.h
@@ -50,12 +50,13 @@ struct xfs_bmalloca {
 	xfs_extlen_t		total;	/* total blocks needed for xaction */
 	xfs_extlen_t		minlen;	/* minimum allocation size (blocks) */
 	xfs_extlen_t		minleft; /* amount must be left after alloc */
-	char			eof;	/* set if allocating past last extent */
-	char			wasdel;	/* replacing a delayed allocation */
-	char			userdata;/* set if is user data */
-	char			aeof;	/* allocated space at eof */
-	char			conv;	/* overwriting unwritten extents */
-	char			stack_switch;
+	bool			eof;	/* set if allocating past last extent */
+	bool			wasdel;	/* replacing a delayed allocation */
+	bool			userdata;/* set if is user data */
+	bool			aeof;	/* allocated space at eof */
+	bool			conv;	/* overwriting unwritten extents */
+	bool			stack_switch;
+	bool			kswapd;	/* allocation in kswapd context */
 	int			flags;
 	struct completion	*done;
 	struct work_struct	work;