diff --git a/include/linux/mmzone.h b/include/linux/mmzone.h
index 34cbefd2ebd..93a849f742d 100644
--- a/include/linux/mmzone.h
+++ b/include/linux/mmzone.h
@@ -149,14 +149,16 @@ struct zone {
 	unsigned long		pages_scanned;	   /* since last reclaim */
 	int			all_unreclaimable; /* All pages pinned */
 
-	/*
-	 * Does the allocator try to reclaim pages from the zone as soon
-	 * as it fails a watermark_ok() in __alloc_pages?
-	 */
-	int			reclaim_pages;
 	/* A count of how many reclaimers are scanning this zone */
 	atomic_t		reclaim_in_progress;
 
+	/*
+	 * timestamp (in jiffies) of the last zone reclaim that did not
+	 * result in freeing of pages. This is used to avoid repeated scans
+	 * if all memory in the zone is in use.
+	 */
+	unsigned long		last_unsuccessful_zone_reclaim;
+
 	/*
 	 * prev_priority holds the scanning priority for this zone.  It is
 	 * defined as the scanning priority at which we achieved our reclaim
diff --git a/include/linux/swap.h b/include/linux/swap.h
index d01f7efb0f2..4a99e4a7fbf 100644
--- a/include/linux/swap.h
+++ b/include/linux/swap.h
@@ -176,6 +176,17 @@ extern int try_to_free_pages(struct zone **, gfp_t);
 extern int shrink_all_memory(int);
 extern int vm_swappiness;
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_NUMA
+extern int zone_reclaim_mode;
+extern int zone_reclaim(struct zone *, gfp_t, unsigned int);
+#else
+#define zone_reclaim_mode 0
+static inline int zone_reclaim(struct zone *z, gfp_t mask, unsigned int order)
+{
+	return 0;
+}
+#endif
+
 #ifdef CONFIG_MIGRATION
 extern int isolate_lru_page(struct page *p);
 extern int putback_lru_pages(struct list_head *l);
diff --git a/include/linux/topology.h b/include/linux/topology.h
index 315a5163d6a..e8eb0040ce3 100644
--- a/include/linux/topology.h
+++ b/include/linux/topology.h
@@ -56,6 +56,14 @@
 #define REMOTE_DISTANCE		20
 #define node_distance(from,to)	((from) == (to) ? LOCAL_DISTANCE : REMOTE_DISTANCE)
 #endif
+#ifndef RECLAIM_DISTANCE
+/*
+ * If the distance between nodes in a system is larger than RECLAIM_DISTANCE
+ * (in whatever arch specific measurement units returned by node_distance())
+ * then switch on zone reclaim on boot.
+ */
+#define RECLAIM_DISTANCE 20
+#endif
 #ifndef PENALTY_FOR_NODE_WITH_CPUS
 #define PENALTY_FOR_NODE_WITH_CPUS	(1)
 #endif
diff --git a/mm/page_alloc.c b/mm/page_alloc.c
index c2e29743a8d..df54e2fc8ee 100644
--- a/mm/page_alloc.c
+++ b/mm/page_alloc.c
@@ -878,7 +878,9 @@ get_page_from_freelist(gfp_t gfp_mask, unsigned int order,
 				mark = (*z)->pages_high;
 			if (!zone_watermark_ok(*z, order, mark,
 				    classzone_idx, alloc_flags))
-				continue;
+				if (!zone_reclaim_mode ||
+				    !zone_reclaim(*z, gfp_mask, order))
+					continue;
 		}
 
 		page = buffered_rmqueue(zonelist, *z, order, gfp_mask);
@@ -1595,13 +1597,22 @@ static void __init build_zonelists(pg_data_t *pgdat)
 	prev_node = local_node;
 	nodes_clear(used_mask);
 	while ((node = find_next_best_node(local_node, &used_mask)) >= 0) {
+		int distance = node_distance(local_node, node);
+
+		/*
+		 * If another node is sufficiently far away then it is better
+		 * to reclaim pages in a zone before going off node.
+		 */
+		if (distance > RECLAIM_DISTANCE)
+			zone_reclaim_mode = 1;
+
 		/*
 		 * We don't want to pressure a particular node.
 		 * So adding penalty to the first node in same
 		 * distance group to make it round-robin.
 		 */
-		if (node_distance(local_node, node) !=
-				node_distance(local_node, prev_node))
+
+		if (distance != node_distance(local_node, prev_node))
 			node_load[node] += load;
 		prev_node = node;
 		load--;
diff --git a/mm/vmscan.c b/mm/vmscan.c
index e5117b6897a..2e34b61a70c 100644
--- a/mm/vmscan.c
+++ b/mm/vmscan.c
@@ -1572,3 +1572,71 @@ static int __init kswapd_init(void)
 }
 
 module_init(kswapd_init)
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_NUMA
+/*
+ * Zone reclaim mode
+ *
+ * If non-zero call zone_reclaim when the number of free pages falls below
+ * the watermarks.
+ *
+ * In the future we may add flags to the mode. However, the page allocator
+ * should only have to check that zone_reclaim_mode != 0 before calling
+ * zone_reclaim().
+ */
+int zone_reclaim_mode __read_mostly;
+
+/*
+ * Mininum time between zone reclaim scans
+ */
+#define ZONE_RECLAIM_INTERVAL HZ/2
+/*
+ * Try to free up some pages from this zone through reclaim.
+ */
+int zone_reclaim(struct zone *zone, gfp_t gfp_mask, unsigned int order)
+{
+	int nr_pages = 1 << order;
+	struct task_struct *p = current;
+	struct reclaim_state reclaim_state;
+	struct scan_control sc = {
+		.gfp_mask	= gfp_mask,
+		.may_writepage	= 0,
+		.may_swap	= 0,
+		.nr_mapped	= read_page_state(nr_mapped),
+		.nr_scanned	= 0,
+		.nr_reclaimed	= 0,
+		.priority	= 0
+	};
+
+	if (!(gfp_mask & __GFP_WAIT) ||
+		zone->zone_pgdat->node_id != numa_node_id() ||
+		zone->all_unreclaimable ||
+		atomic_read(&zone->reclaim_in_progress) > 0)
+			return 0;
+
+	if (time_before(jiffies,
+		zone->last_unsuccessful_zone_reclaim + ZONE_RECLAIM_INTERVAL))
+			return 0;
+
+	disable_swap_token();
+
+	if (nr_pages > SWAP_CLUSTER_MAX)
+		sc.swap_cluster_max = nr_pages;
+	else
+		sc.swap_cluster_max = SWAP_CLUSTER_MAX;
+
+	cond_resched();
+	p->flags |= PF_MEMALLOC;
+	reclaim_state.reclaimed_slab = 0;
+	p->reclaim_state = &reclaim_state;
+	shrink_zone(zone, &sc);
+	p->reclaim_state = NULL;
+	current->flags &= ~PF_MEMALLOC;
+
+	if (sc.nr_reclaimed == 0)
+		zone->last_unsuccessful_zone_reclaim = jiffies;
+
+	return sc.nr_reclaimed > nr_pages;
+}
+#endif
+