diff --git a/mm/vmscan.c b/mm/vmscan.c
index 99e1796eb833..9727dd8e2581 100644
--- a/mm/vmscan.c
+++ b/mm/vmscan.c
@@ -2615,6 +2615,14 @@ static void shrink_node_memcgs(pg_data_t *pgdat, struct scan_control *sc)
 		unsigned long reclaimed;
 		unsigned long scanned;
 
+		/*
+		 * This loop can become CPU-bound when target memcgs
+		 * aren't eligible for reclaim - either because they
+		 * don't have any reclaimable pages, or because their
+		 * memory is explicitly protected. Avoid soft lockups.
+		 */
+		cond_resched();
+
 		mem_cgroup_calculate_protection(target_memcg, memcg);
 
 		if (mem_cgroup_below_min(memcg)) {