diff --git a/mm/hugetlb.c b/mm/hugetlb.c
index 3737d82f522..93ea46a0fba 100644
--- a/mm/hugetlb.c
+++ b/mm/hugetlb.c
@@ -372,11 +372,19 @@ retry:
 	resv_huge_pages += delta;
 	ret = 0;
 free:
+	/* Free the needed pages to the hugetlb pool */
 	list_for_each_entry_safe(page, tmp, &surplus_list, lru) {
+		if ((--needed) < 0)
+			break;
 		list_del(&page->lru);
-		if ((--needed) >= 0)
-			enqueue_huge_page(page);
-		else {
+		enqueue_huge_page(page);
+	}
+
+	/* Free unnecessary surplus pages to the buddy allocator */
+	if (!list_empty(&surplus_list)) {
+		spin_unlock(&hugetlb_lock);
+		list_for_each_entry_safe(page, tmp, &surplus_list, lru) {
+			list_del(&page->lru);
 			/*
 			 * The page has a reference count of zero already, so
 			 * call free_huge_page directly instead of using
@@ -384,10 +392,9 @@ free:
 			 * unlocked which is safe because free_huge_page takes
 			 * hugetlb_lock before deciding how to free the page.
 			 */
-			spin_unlock(&hugetlb_lock);
 			free_huge_page(page);
-			spin_lock(&hugetlb_lock);
 		}
+		spin_lock(&hugetlb_lock);
 	}
 
 	return ret;