diff --git a/mm/bootmem.c b/mm/bootmem.c
index 73096630cb3..bcb63ac48cc 100644
--- a/mm/bootmem.c
+++ b/mm/bootmem.c
@@ -710,6 +710,10 @@ again:
 	if (ptr)
 		return ptr;
 
+	/* do not panic in alloc_bootmem_bdata() */
+	if (limit && goal + size > limit)
+		limit = 0;
+
 	ptr = alloc_bootmem_bdata(pgdat->bdata, size, align, goal, limit);
 	if (ptr)
 		return ptr;