diff --git a/include/linux/cgroup.h b/include/linux/cgroup.h
index 8675c691d3e20fdf4ee9a55a0ca525ff6bcbc848..ff9055fc3d2a046a75e78b8c967b5c732ee7eb24 100644
--- a/include/linux/cgroup.h
+++ b/include/linux/cgroup.h
@@ -318,6 +318,7 @@ struct task_struct *cgroup_iter_next(struct cgroup *cont,
 					struct cgroup_iter *it);
 void cgroup_iter_end(struct cgroup *cont, struct cgroup_iter *it);
 int cgroup_scan_tasks(struct cgroup_scanner *scan);
+int cgroup_attach_task(struct cgroup *, struct task_struct *);
 
 #else /* !CONFIG_CGROUPS */
 
diff --git a/kernel/cgroup.c b/kernel/cgroup.c
index bcc7a6e8e3c00dd69d462d3bc87299e9bf0ee095..2c5cccbe12e2a7ac0cac841f8320dc21693c205f 100644
--- a/kernel/cgroup.c
+++ b/kernel/cgroup.c
@@ -489,7 +489,7 @@ static struct css_set *find_css_set(
  * Any task can increment and decrement the count field without lock.
  * So in general, code holding cgroup_mutex can't rely on the count
  * field not changing.  However, if the count goes to zero, then only
- * attach_task() can increment it again.  Because a count of zero
+ * cgroup_attach_task() can increment it again.  Because a count of zero
  * means that no tasks are currently attached, therefore there is no
  * way a task attached to that cgroup can fork (the other way to
  * increment the count).  So code holding cgroup_mutex can safely
@@ -520,17 +520,17 @@ static struct css_set *find_css_set(
  *	The task_lock() exception
  *
  * The need for this exception arises from the action of
- * attach_task(), which overwrites one tasks cgroup pointer with
+ * cgroup_attach_task(), which overwrites one tasks cgroup pointer with
  * another.  It does so using cgroup_mutexe, however there are
  * several performance critical places that need to reference
  * task->cgroup without the expense of grabbing a system global
  * mutex.  Therefore except as noted below, when dereferencing or, as
- * in attach_task(), modifying a task'ss cgroup pointer we use
+ * in cgroup_attach_task(), modifying a task'ss cgroup pointer we use
  * task_lock(), which acts on a spinlock (task->alloc_lock) already in
  * the task_struct routinely used for such matters.
  *
  * P.S.  One more locking exception.  RCU is used to guard the
- * update of a tasks cgroup pointer by attach_task()
+ * update of a tasks cgroup pointer by cgroup_attach_task()
  */
 
 /**
@@ -1194,7 +1194,7 @@ static void get_first_subsys(const struct cgroup *cgrp,
  * Call holding cgroup_mutex.  May take task_lock of
  * the task 'pid' during call.
  */
-static int attach_task(struct cgroup *cgrp, struct task_struct *tsk)
+int cgroup_attach_task(struct cgroup *cgrp, struct task_struct *tsk)
 {
 	int retval = 0;
 	struct cgroup_subsys *ss;
@@ -1287,7 +1287,7 @@ static int attach_task_by_pid(struct cgroup *cgrp, char *pidbuf)
 		get_task_struct(tsk);
 	}
 
-	ret = attach_task(cgrp, tsk);
+	ret = cgroup_attach_task(cgrp, tsk);
 	put_task_struct(tsk);
 	return ret;
 }
@@ -2514,7 +2514,7 @@ int __init cgroup_init(void)
  *  - Used for /proc/<pid>/cgroup.
  *  - No need to task_lock(tsk) on this tsk->cgroup reference, as it
  *    doesn't really matter if tsk->cgroup changes after we read it,
- *    and we take cgroup_mutex, keeping attach_task() from changing it
+ *    and we take cgroup_mutex, keeping cgroup_attach_task() from changing it
  *    anyway.  No need to check that tsk->cgroup != NULL, thanks to
  *    the_top_cgroup_hack in cgroup_exit(), which sets an exiting tasks
  *    cgroup to top_cgroup.
@@ -2625,7 +2625,7 @@ static struct file_operations proc_cgroupstats_operations = {
  * A pointer to the shared css_set was automatically copied in
  * fork.c by dup_task_struct().  However, we ignore that copy, since
  * it was not made under the protection of RCU or cgroup_mutex, so
- * might no longer be a valid cgroup pointer.  attach_task() might
+ * might no longer be a valid cgroup pointer.  cgroup_attach_task() might
  * have already changed current->cgroups, allowing the previously
  * referenced cgroup group to be removed and freed.
  *
@@ -2704,8 +2704,8 @@ void cgroup_post_fork(struct task_struct *child)
  *    attach us to a different cgroup, decrementing the count on
  *    the first cgroup that we never incremented.  But in this case,
  *    top_cgroup isn't going away, and either task has PF_EXITING set,
- *    which wards off any attach_task() attempts, or task is a failed
- *    fork, never visible to attach_task.
+ *    which wards off any cgroup_attach_task() attempts, or task is a failed
+ *    fork, never visible to cgroup_attach_task.
  *
  */
 void cgroup_exit(struct task_struct *tsk, int run_callbacks)
@@ -2845,7 +2845,7 @@ int cgroup_clone(struct task_struct *tsk, struct cgroup_subsys *subsys)
 	}
 
 	/* All seems fine. Finish by moving the task into the new cgroup */
-	ret = attach_task(child, tsk);
+	ret = cgroup_attach_task(child, tsk);
 	mutex_unlock(&cgroup_mutex);
 
  out_release:
diff --git a/kernel/cpuset.c b/kernel/cpuset.c
index cfaf6419d817e0a387f1c39d878f342e279818b6..d94a8f7c4c294454366ea4bdc116fbdee7f3f840 100644
--- a/kernel/cpuset.c
+++ b/kernel/cpuset.c
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@
 #include <asm/atomic.h>
 #include <linux/mutex.h>
 #include <linux/kfifo.h>
+#include <linux/workqueue.h>
+#include <linux/cgroup.h>
 
 /*
  * Tracks how many cpusets are currently defined in system.
@@ -96,6 +98,9 @@ struct cpuset {
 
 	/* partition number for rebuild_sched_domains() */
 	int pn;
+
+	/* used for walking a cpuset heirarchy */
+	struct list_head stack_list;
 };
 
 /* Retrieve the cpuset for a cgroup */
@@ -111,7 +116,10 @@ static inline struct cpuset *task_cs(struct task_struct *task)
 	return container_of(task_subsys_state(task, cpuset_subsys_id),
 			    struct cpuset, css);
 }
-
+struct cpuset_hotplug_scanner {
+	struct cgroup_scanner scan;
+	struct cgroup *to;
+};
 
 /* bits in struct cpuset flags field */
 typedef enum {
@@ -1687,53 +1695,146 @@ int __init cpuset_init(void)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+/**
+ * cpuset_do_move_task - move a given task to another cpuset
+ * @tsk: pointer to task_struct the task to move
+ * @scan: struct cgroup_scanner contained in its struct cpuset_hotplug_scanner
+ *
+ * Called by cgroup_scan_tasks() for each task in a cgroup.
+ * Return nonzero to stop the walk through the tasks.
+ */
+void cpuset_do_move_task(struct task_struct *tsk, struct cgroup_scanner *scan)
+{
+	struct cpuset_hotplug_scanner *chsp;
+
+	chsp = container_of(scan, struct cpuset_hotplug_scanner, scan);
+	cgroup_attach_task(chsp->to, tsk);
+}
+
+/**
+ * move_member_tasks_to_cpuset - move tasks from one cpuset to another
+ * @from: cpuset in which the tasks currently reside
+ * @to: cpuset to which the tasks will be moved
+ *
+ * Called with manage_sem held
+ * callback_mutex must not be held, as attach_task() will take it.
+ *
+ * The cgroup_scan_tasks() function will scan all the tasks in a cgroup,
+ * calling callback functions for each.
+ */
+static void move_member_tasks_to_cpuset(struct cpuset *from, struct cpuset *to)
+{
+	struct cpuset_hotplug_scanner scan;
+
+	scan.scan.cg = from->css.cgroup;
+	scan.scan.test_task = NULL; /* select all tasks in cgroup */
+	scan.scan.process_task = cpuset_do_move_task;
+	scan.scan.heap = NULL;
+	scan.to = to->css.cgroup;
+
+	if (cgroup_scan_tasks((struct cgroup_scanner *)&scan))
+		printk(KERN_ERR "move_member_tasks_to_cpuset: "
+				"cgroup_scan_tasks failed\n");
+}
+
 /*
  * If common_cpu_mem_hotplug_unplug(), below, unplugs any CPUs
  * or memory nodes, we need to walk over the cpuset hierarchy,
  * removing that CPU or node from all cpusets.  If this removes the
- * last CPU or node from a cpuset, then the guarantee_online_cpus()
- * or guarantee_online_mems() code will use that emptied cpusets
- * parent online CPUs or nodes.  Cpusets that were already empty of
- * CPUs or nodes are left empty.
- *
- * This routine is intentionally inefficient in a couple of regards.
- * It will check all cpusets in a subtree even if the top cpuset of
- * the subtree has no offline CPUs or nodes.  It checks both CPUs and
- * nodes, even though the caller could have been coded to know that
- * only one of CPUs or nodes needed to be checked on a given call.
- * This was done to minimize text size rather than cpu cycles.
+ * last CPU or node from a cpuset, then move the tasks in the empty
+ * cpuset to its next-highest non-empty parent.
  *
- * Call with both manage_mutex and callback_mutex held.
+ * The parent cpuset has some superset of the 'mems' nodes that the
+ * newly empty cpuset held, so no migration of memory is necessary.
  *
- * Recursive, on depth of cpuset subtree.
+ * Called with both manage_sem and callback_sem held
  */
+static void remove_tasks_in_empty_cpuset(struct cpuset *cs)
+{
+	struct cpuset *parent;
+
+	/* the cgroup's css_sets list is in use if there are tasks
+	   in the cpuset; the list is empty if there are none;
+	   the cs->css.refcnt seems always 0 */
+	if (list_empty(&cs->css.cgroup->css_sets))
+		return;
 
-static void guarantee_online_cpus_mems_in_subtree(const struct cpuset *cur)
+	/*
+	 * Find its next-highest non-empty parent, (top cpuset
+	 * has online cpus, so can't be empty).
+	 */
+	parent = cs->parent;
+	while (cpus_empty(parent->cpus_allowed)) {
+		/*
+		 * this empty cpuset should now be considered to
+		 * have been used, and therefore eligible for
+		 * release when empty (if it is notify_on_release)
+		 */
+		parent = parent->parent;
+	}
+
+	move_member_tasks_to_cpuset(cs, parent);
+}
+
+/*
+ * Walk the specified cpuset subtree and look for empty cpusets.
+ * The tasks of such cpuset must be moved to a parent cpuset.
+ *
+ * Note that such a notify_on_release cpuset must have had, at some time,
+ * member tasks or cpuset descendants and cpus and memory, before it can
+ * be a candidate for release.
+ *
+ * Called with manage_mutex held.  We take callback_mutex to modify
+ * cpus_allowed and mems_allowed.
+ *
+ * This walk processes the tree from top to bottom, completing one layer
+ * before dropping down to the next.  It always processes a node before
+ * any of its children.
+ *
+ * For now, since we lack memory hot unplug, we'll never see a cpuset
+ * that has tasks along with an empty 'mems'.  But if we did see such
+ * a cpuset, we'd handle it just like we do if its 'cpus' was empty.
+ */
+static void scan_for_empty_cpusets(const struct cpuset *root)
 {
+	struct cpuset *cp;	/* scans cpusets being updated */
+	struct cpuset *child;	/* scans child cpusets of cp */
+	struct list_head queue;
 	struct cgroup *cont;
-	struct cpuset *c;
 
-	/* Each of our child cpusets mems must be online */
-	list_for_each_entry(cont, &cur->css.cgroup->children, sibling) {
-		c = cgroup_cs(cont);
-		guarantee_online_cpus_mems_in_subtree(c);
-		if (!cpus_empty(c->cpus_allowed))
-			guarantee_online_cpus(c, &c->cpus_allowed);
-		if (!nodes_empty(c->mems_allowed))
-			guarantee_online_mems(c, &c->mems_allowed);
+	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&queue);
+
+	list_add_tail((struct list_head *)&root->stack_list, &queue);
+
+	mutex_lock(&callback_mutex);
+	while (!list_empty(&queue)) {
+		cp = container_of(queue.next, struct cpuset, stack_list);
+		list_del(queue.next);
+		list_for_each_entry(cont, &cp->css.cgroup->children, sibling) {
+			child = cgroup_cs(cont);
+			list_add_tail(&child->stack_list, &queue);
+		}
+		cont = cp->css.cgroup;
+		/* Remove offline cpus and mems from this cpuset. */
+		cpus_and(cp->cpus_allowed, cp->cpus_allowed, cpu_online_map);
+		nodes_and(cp->mems_allowed, cp->mems_allowed,
+						node_states[N_HIGH_MEMORY]);
+		if ((cpus_empty(cp->cpus_allowed) ||
+		     nodes_empty(cp->mems_allowed))) {
+			/* Move tasks from the empty cpuset to a parent */
+			mutex_unlock(&callback_mutex);
+			remove_tasks_in_empty_cpuset(cp);
+			mutex_lock(&callback_mutex);
+		}
 	}
+	mutex_unlock(&callback_mutex);
+	return;
 }
 
 /*
  * The cpus_allowed and mems_allowed nodemasks in the top_cpuset track
  * cpu_online_map and node_states[N_HIGH_MEMORY].  Force the top cpuset to
- * track what's online after any CPU or memory node hotplug or unplug
- * event.
- *
- * To ensure that we don't remove a CPU or node from the top cpuset
- * that is currently in use by a child cpuset (which would violate
- * the rule that cpusets must be subsets of their parent), we first
- * call the recursive routine guarantee_online_cpus_mems_in_subtree().
+ * track what's online after any CPU or memory node hotplug or unplug event.
  *
  * Since there are two callers of this routine, one for CPU hotplug
  * events and one for memory node hotplug events, we could have coded
@@ -1744,13 +1845,11 @@ static void guarantee_online_cpus_mems_in_subtree(const struct cpuset *cur)
 static void common_cpu_mem_hotplug_unplug(void)
 {
 	cgroup_lock();
-	mutex_lock(&callback_mutex);
 
-	guarantee_online_cpus_mems_in_subtree(&top_cpuset);
 	top_cpuset.cpus_allowed = cpu_online_map;
 	top_cpuset.mems_allowed = node_states[N_HIGH_MEMORY];
+	scan_for_empty_cpusets(&top_cpuset);
 
-	mutex_unlock(&callback_mutex);
 	cgroup_unlock();
 }