[PATCH mm-unstable v3 2/2] mm/vmscan: apply too_many_isolated() throttling to MGLRU eviction

From: Hui Zhu

Date: Tue Aug 18 2026 - 08:50:48 EST


From: Hui Zhu <zhuhui@xxxxxxxxxx>

The legacy path throttles direct reclaim in shrink_inactive_list()
when too many isolated folios pile up, but MGLRU's evict_folios()
isolates folios without this check, which can lead to unnecessary
swapping, thrashing and OOM.

With the NR_ISOLATED counters now updated in evict_folios(), extract
the throttling loop from shrink_inactive_list() into
throttle_is_throttled() and reuse it in evict_folios(). Since the
type to isolate is unknown until isolation and isolate_folios() may
fall back to the other type, check all evictable types with
for_each_evictable_type() and throttle if any of them has too many
isolated folios.

If a fatal signal is pending, fake reclaim progress the same way the
legacy path does, so the dying task exits reclaim quickly instead of
being held in the throttle.

Signed-off-by: Hui Zhu <zhuhui@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
mm/vmscan.c | 71 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------
1 file changed, 59 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)

diff --git a/mm/vmscan.c b/mm/vmscan.c
index 98226bb021f3..6fe8824430ac 100644
--- a/mm/vmscan.c
+++ b/mm/vmscan.c
@@ -1819,7 +1819,7 @@ bool folio_isolate_lru(struct folio *folio)
* the LRU list will go small and be scanned faster than necessary, leading to
* unnecessary swapping, thrashing and OOM.
*/
-static bool too_many_isolated(struct pglist_data *pgdat, int file,
+static bool too_many_isolated(struct pglist_data *pgdat, bool file,
struct scan_control *sc)
{
unsigned long inactive, isolated;
@@ -1856,6 +1856,37 @@ static bool too_many_isolated(struct pglist_data *pgdat, int file,
return too_many;
}

+/*
+ * Throttle reclaim if too many isolated folios are piling up. If this makes
+ * no progress, the caller is probably looping on unevictable folios, so give
+ * up. Returns true to tell the caller to stop reclaiming, and sets @fatal
+ * if the task received a fatal signal while waiting, so that the caller can
+ * bail out faster.
+ */
+static bool throttle_is_throttled(struct pglist_data *pgdat, bool file,
+ struct scan_control *sc, bool *fatal)
+{
+ bool stalled = false;
+
+ *fatal = false;
+ while (unlikely(too_many_isolated(pgdat, file, sc))) {
+ if (stalled)
+ return true;
+
+ /* wait a bit for the reclaimer. */
+ stalled = true;
+ reclaim_throttle(pgdat, VMSCAN_THROTTLE_ISOLATED);
+
+ /* We are about to die and free our memory. Return now. */
+ if (fatal_signal_pending(current)) {
+ *fatal = true;
+ return true;
+ }
+ }
+
+ return false;
+}
+
/*
* move_folios_to_lru() moves folios from private @list to appropriate LRU list.
*
@@ -1992,19 +2023,14 @@ static unsigned long shrink_inactive_list(unsigned long nr_to_scan,
bool file = is_file_lru(lru);
enum node_stat_item item;
struct pglist_data *pgdat = lruvec_pgdat(lruvec);
- bool stalled = false;
-
- while (unlikely(too_many_isolated(pgdat, file, sc))) {
- if (stalled)
- return 0;
-
- /* wait a bit for the reclaimer. */
- stalled = true;
- reclaim_throttle(pgdat, VMSCAN_THROTTLE_ISOLATED);
+ bool fatal;

+ if (throttle_is_throttled(pgdat, file, sc, &fatal)) {
/* We are about to die and free our memory. Return now. */
- if (fatal_signal_pending(current))
+ if (fatal)
return SWAP_CLUSTER_MAX;
+
+ return 0;
}

lru_add_drain();
@@ -4877,12 +4903,33 @@ static int evict_folios(unsigned long nr_to_scan, struct lruvec *lruvec,
enum node_stat_item item;
struct reclaim_stat stat;
struct lru_gen_mm_walk *walk;
- int scanned, reclaimed;
+ int i, scanned, reclaimed;
int isolated = 0, nr_isolated = 0, type, type_scanned;
unsigned long total_reclaimed = 0;
bool skip_retry = false;
struct mem_cgroup *memcg = lruvec_memcg(lruvec);
struct pglist_data *pgdat = lruvec_pgdat(lruvec);
+ bool fatal;
+
+ /*
+ * The type to isolate is unknown until isolation, and
+ * isolate_folios() may fall back to the other type. Throttle if
+ * any evictable type has too many isolated folios.
+ */
+ for_each_evictable_type(i, swappiness) {
+ if (throttle_is_throttled(pgdat, i, sc, &fatal)) {
+ /*
+ * We are about to die and free our memory. Like the
+ * legacy path, pretend some pages were reclaimed so
+ * reclaim unwinds quickly instead of looping back
+ * into the throttle.
+ */
+ if (fatal)
+ sc->nr_reclaimed += SWAP_CLUSTER_MAX;
+
+ return 0;
+ }
+ }

lruvec_lock_irq(lruvec);

--
2.53.0