diff --git a/net/sunrpc/svc_xprt.c b/net/sunrpc/svc_xprt.c
index dbb41821b1b8..cd5a2b186f0d 100644
--- a/net/sunrpc/svc_xprt.c
+++ b/net/sunrpc/svc_xprt.c
@@ -662,7 +662,7 @@ static int svc_alloc_arg(struct svc_rqst *rqstp)
 {
 	struct svc_serv *serv = rqstp->rq_server;
 	struct xdr_buf *arg = &rqstp->rq_arg;
-	unsigned long pages, filled;
+	unsigned long pages, filled, ret;
 
 	pages = (serv->sv_max_mesg + 2 * PAGE_SIZE) >> PAGE_SHIFT;
 	if (pages > RPCSVC_MAXPAGES) {
@@ -672,11 +672,12 @@ static int svc_alloc_arg(struct svc_rqst *rqstp)
 		pages = RPCSVC_MAXPAGES;
 	}
 
-	for (;;) {
-		filled = alloc_pages_bulk_array(GFP_KERNEL, pages,
-						rqstp->rq_pages);
-		if (filled == pages)
-			break;
+	for (filled = 0; filled < pages; filled = ret) {
+		ret = alloc_pages_bulk_array(GFP_KERNEL, pages,
+					     rqstp->rq_pages);
+		if (ret > filled)
+			/* Made progress, don't sleep yet */
+			continue;
 
 		set_current_state(TASK_INTERRUPTIBLE);
 		if (signalled() || kthread_should_stop()) {