diff --git a/lib/list_sort.c b/lib/list_sort.c
index a34c78c30d56615d0eb8334310772178fd328a65..6b9fdaf1d32e52ebcbb22ceb632d2a90388e7d63 100644
--- a/lib/list_sort.c
+++ b/lib/list_sort.c
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ static void merge_and_restore_back_links(void *priv,
 				struct list_head *a, struct list_head *b)
 {
 	struct list_head *tail = head;
+	u8 count = 0;
 
 	while (a && b) {
 		/* if equal, take 'a' -- important for sort stability */
@@ -70,7 +71,8 @@ static void merge_and_restore_back_links(void *priv,
 		 * element comparison is needed, so the client's cmp()
 		 * routine can invoke cond_resched() periodically.
 		 */
-		(*cmp)(priv, tail->next, tail->next);
+		if (unlikely(!(++count)))
+			(*cmp)(priv, tail->next, tail->next);
 
 		tail->next->prev = tail;
 		tail = tail->next;