diff --git a/mm/mempolicy.c b/mm/mempolicy.c
index ed055e34d20c..d39b01fd52fe 100644
--- a/mm/mempolicy.c
+++ b/mm/mempolicy.c
@@ -351,7 +351,7 @@ static void mpol_rebind_preferred(struct mempolicy *pol,
  */
 static void mpol_rebind_policy(struct mempolicy *pol, const nodemask_t *newmask)
 {
-	if (!pol)
+	if (!pol || pol->mode == MPOL_LOCAL)
 		return;
 	if (!mpol_store_user_nodemask(pol) &&
 	    nodes_equal(pol->w.cpuset_mems_allowed, *newmask))