diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/ext4.txt b/Documentation/filesystems/ext4.txt
index 1b7f9acbcbbe450c8d0f3f8a16d592275c61a5dd..104322bf378c314061ae906433e0e81a9abde7e0 100644
--- a/Documentation/filesystems/ext4.txt
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/ext4.txt
@@ -375,6 +375,16 @@ dioread_nolock		locking. If the dioread_nolock option is specified
 			Because of the restrictions this options comprises
 			it is off by default (e.g. dioread_lock).
 
+max_dir_size_kb=n	This limits the size of directories so that any
+			attempt to expand them beyond the specified
+			limit in kilobytes will cause an ENOSPC error.
+			This is useful in memory constrained
+			environments, where a very large directory can
+			cause severe performance problems or even
+			provoke the Out Of Memory killer.  (For example,
+			if there is only 512mb memory available, a 176mb
+			directory may seriously cramp the system's style.)
+
 i_version		Enable 64-bit inode version support. This option is
 			off by default.
 
diff --git a/fs/ext4/ext4.h b/fs/ext4/ext4.h
index c3411d4ce2da57e6e80874be488be00c681e673c..7c0841ecde6c284c3743db495e7c20ab848685ef 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/ext4.h
+++ b/fs/ext4/ext4.h
@@ -1243,6 +1243,7 @@ struct ext4_sb_info {
 	unsigned int s_mb_order2_reqs;
 	unsigned int s_mb_group_prealloc;
 	unsigned int s_max_writeback_mb_bump;
+	unsigned int s_max_dir_size_kb;
 	/* where last allocation was done - for stream allocation */
 	unsigned long s_mb_last_group;
 	unsigned long s_mb_last_start;
diff --git a/fs/ext4/namei.c b/fs/ext4/namei.c
index 2a42cc04466f6858f55fea7e4a8beb2f1232319f..7450ff01c3c47d531daffae28331c0480dca964a 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/namei.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/namei.c
@@ -55,6 +55,13 @@ static struct buffer_head *ext4_append(handle_t *handle,
 {
 	struct buffer_head *bh;
 
+	if (unlikely(EXT4_SB(inode->i_sb)->s_max_dir_size_kb &&
+		     ((inode->i_size >> 10) >=
+		      EXT4_SB(inode->i_sb)->s_max_dir_size_kb))) {
+		*err = -ENOSPC;
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
 	*block = inode->i_size >> inode->i_sb->s_blocksize_bits;
 
 	bh = ext4_bread(handle, inode, *block, 1, err);
diff --git a/fs/ext4/super.c b/fs/ext4/super.c
index 598498904035a497273eff46806a0b0b1f9ffcd4..5a97e590692d162eebdc1f2c51086131b52b22fc 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/super.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/super.c
@@ -1230,6 +1230,7 @@ enum {
 	Opt_inode_readahead_blks, Opt_journal_ioprio,
 	Opt_dioread_nolock, Opt_dioread_lock,
 	Opt_discard, Opt_nodiscard, Opt_init_itable, Opt_noinit_itable,
+	Opt_max_dir_size_kb,
 };
 
 static const match_table_t tokens = {
@@ -1303,6 +1304,7 @@ static const match_table_t tokens = {
 	{Opt_init_itable, "init_itable=%u"},
 	{Opt_init_itable, "init_itable"},
 	{Opt_noinit_itable, "noinit_itable"},
+	{Opt_max_dir_size_kb, "max_dir_size_kb=%u"},
 	{Opt_removed, "check=none"},	/* mount option from ext2/3 */
 	{Opt_removed, "nocheck"},	/* mount option from ext2/3 */
 	{Opt_removed, "reservation"},	/* mount option from ext2/3 */
@@ -1483,6 +1485,7 @@ static const struct mount_opts {
 	{Opt_jqfmt_vfsold, QFMT_VFS_OLD, MOPT_QFMT},
 	{Opt_jqfmt_vfsv0, QFMT_VFS_V0, MOPT_QFMT},
 	{Opt_jqfmt_vfsv1, QFMT_VFS_V1, MOPT_QFMT},
+	{Opt_max_dir_size_kb, 0, MOPT_GTE0},
 	{Opt_err, 0, 0}
 };
 
@@ -1598,6 +1601,8 @@ static int handle_mount_opt(struct super_block *sb, char *opt, int token,
 			if (!args->from)
 				arg = EXT4_DEF_LI_WAIT_MULT;
 			sbi->s_li_wait_mult = arg;
+		} else if (token == Opt_max_dir_size_kb) {
+			sbi->s_max_dir_size_kb = arg;
 		} else if (token == Opt_stripe) {
 			sbi->s_stripe = arg;
 		} else if (m->flags & MOPT_DATAJ) {
@@ -1829,6 +1834,8 @@ static int _ext4_show_options(struct seq_file *seq, struct super_block *sb,
 	if (nodefs || (test_opt(sb, INIT_INODE_TABLE) &&
 		       (sbi->s_li_wait_mult != EXT4_DEF_LI_WAIT_MULT)))
 		SEQ_OPTS_PRINT("init_itable=%u", sbi->s_li_wait_mult);
+	if (nodefs || sbi->s_max_dir_size_kb)
+		SEQ_OPTS_PRINT("max_dir_size_kb=%u", sbi->s_max_dir_size_kb);
 
 	ext4_show_quota_options(seq, sb);
 	return 0;