diff --git a/mm/page_alloc.c b/mm/page_alloc.c
index 9bd339eb04c6c84691232bc7e499947fe9d13942..527f73e4c63fcbc130d751d180e612d0c0b32b72 100644
--- a/mm/page_alloc.c
+++ b/mm/page_alloc.c
@@ -1759,6 +1759,9 @@ __alloc_pages_may_oom(gfp_t gfp_mask, unsigned int order,
 		/* The OOM killer will not help higher order allocs */
 		if (order > PAGE_ALLOC_COSTLY_ORDER)
 			goto out;
+		/* The OOM killer does not needlessly kill tasks for lowmem */
+		if (high_zoneidx < ZONE_NORMAL)
+			goto out;
 		/*
 		 * GFP_THISNODE contains __GFP_NORETRY and we never hit this.
 		 * Sanity check for bare calls of __GFP_THISNODE, not real OOM.
@@ -2052,15 +2055,23 @@ __alloc_pages_slowpath(gfp_t gfp_mask, unsigned int order,
 			if (page)
 				goto got_pg;
 
-			/*
-			 * The OOM killer does not trigger for high-order
-			 * ~__GFP_NOFAIL allocations so if no progress is being
-			 * made, there are no other options and retrying is
-			 * unlikely to help.
-			 */
-			if (order > PAGE_ALLOC_COSTLY_ORDER &&
-						!(gfp_mask & __GFP_NOFAIL))
-				goto nopage;
+			if (!(gfp_mask & __GFP_NOFAIL)) {
+				/*
+				 * The oom killer is not called for high-order
+				 * allocations that may fail, so if no progress
+				 * is being made, there are no other options and
+				 * retrying is unlikely to help.
+				 */
+				if (order > PAGE_ALLOC_COSTLY_ORDER)
+					goto nopage;
+				/*
+				 * The oom killer is not called for lowmem
+				 * allocations to prevent needlessly killing
+				 * innocent tasks.
+				 */
+				if (high_zoneidx < ZONE_NORMAL)
+					goto nopage;
+			}
 
 			goto restart;
 		}