diff --git a/mm/page_alloc.c b/mm/page_alloc.c
index f9e450c6b6e414..b7a6f583a3733b 100644
--- a/mm/page_alloc.c
+++ b/mm/page_alloc.c
@@ -3870,7 +3870,9 @@ __alloc_pages_slowpath(gfp_t gfp_mask, unsigned int order,
 		goto got_pg;
 
 	/* Avoid allocations with no watermarks from looping endlessly */
-	if (test_thread_flag(TIF_MEMDIE))
+	if (test_thread_flag(TIF_MEMDIE) &&
+	    (alloc_flags == ALLOC_NO_WATERMARKS ||
+	     (gfp_mask & __GFP_NOMEMALLOC)))
 		goto nopage;
 
 	/* Retry as long as the OOM killer is making progress */