diff --git a/fs/xfs/kmem.c b/fs/xfs/kmem.c
index 686ba6fb20dd..73f6ab59c664 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/kmem.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/kmem.c
@@ -80,13 +80,13 @@ kmem_zalloc_large(size_t size, xfs_km_flags_t flags)
 	 * context via PF_MEMALLOC_NOIO to prevent memory reclaim re-entering
 	 * the filesystem here and potentially deadlocking.
 	 */
-	if ((current->flags & PF_FSTRANS) || (flags & KM_NOFS))
+	if ((current->flags & PF_MEMALLOC_NOFS) || (flags & KM_NOFS))
 		noio_flag = memalloc_noio_save();
 
 	lflags = kmem_flags_convert(flags);
 	ptr = __vmalloc(size, lflags | __GFP_HIGHMEM | __GFP_ZERO, PAGE_KERNEL);
 
-	if ((current->flags & PF_FSTRANS) || (flags & KM_NOFS))
+	if ((current->flags & PF_MEMALLOC_NOFS) || (flags & KM_NOFS))
 		memalloc_noio_restore(noio_flag);
 
 	return ptr;
diff --git a/fs/xfs/kmem.h b/fs/xfs/kmem.h
index d1c66e465ca5..b35688a54c9a 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/kmem.h
+++ b/fs/xfs/kmem.h
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ kmem_flags_convert(xfs_km_flags_t flags)
 		lflags = GFP_ATOMIC | __GFP_NOWARN;
 	} else {
 		lflags = GFP_KERNEL | __GFP_NOWARN;
-		if ((current->flags & PF_FSTRANS) || (flags & KM_NOFS))
+		if (flags & KM_NOFS)
 			lflags &= ~__GFP_FS;
 	}
 
diff --git a/fs/xfs/libxfs/xfs_btree.c b/fs/xfs/libxfs/xfs_btree.c
index a0eb18ce3ad3..326566f4a131 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/libxfs/xfs_btree.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/libxfs/xfs_btree.c
@@ -2540,7 +2540,7 @@ xfs_btree_split_worker(
 	struct xfs_btree_split_args	*args = container_of(work,
 						struct xfs_btree_split_args, work);
 	unsigned long		pflags;
-	unsigned long		new_pflags = PF_FSTRANS;
+	unsigned long		new_pflags = PF_MEMALLOC_NOFS;
 
 	/*
 	 * we are in a transaction context here, but may also be doing work
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_aops.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_aops.c
index d12dfcfd0cc8..6d816ff0b763 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_aops.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_aops.c
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ xfs_setfilesize_trans_alloc(
 	 * We hand off the transaction to the completion thread now, so
 	 * clear the flag here.
 	 */
-	current_restore_flags_nested(&tp->t_pflags, PF_FSTRANS);
+	current_restore_flags_nested(&tp->t_pflags, PF_MEMALLOC_NOFS);
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ xfs_setfilesize_ioend(
 	 * thus we need to mark ourselves as being in a transaction manually.
 	 * Similarly for freeze protection.
 	 */
-	current_set_flags_nested(&tp->t_pflags, PF_FSTRANS);
+	current_set_flags_nested(&tp->t_pflags, PF_MEMALLOC_NOFS);
 	__sb_writers_acquired(VFS_I(ip)->i_sb, SB_FREEZE_FS);
 
 	/* we abort the update if there was an IO error */
@@ -979,7 +979,7 @@ xfs_vm_writepage(
 	 * Given that we do not allow direct reclaim to call us, we should
 	 * never be called while in a filesystem transaction.
 	 */
-	if (WARN_ON_ONCE(current->flags & PF_FSTRANS))
+	if (WARN_ON_ONCE(current->flags & PF_MEMALLOC_NOFS))
 		goto redirty;
 
 	/* Is this page beyond the end of the file? */
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_trans.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_trans.c
index 748b16aff45a..1d247366c733 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_trans.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_trans.c
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ xfs_trans_reserve(
 	bool		rsvd = (tp->t_flags & XFS_TRANS_RESERVE) != 0;
 
 	/* Mark this thread as being in a transaction */
-	current_set_flags_nested(&tp->t_pflags, PF_FSTRANS);
+	current_set_flags_nested(&tp->t_pflags, PF_MEMALLOC_NOFS);
 
 	/*
 	 * Attempt to reserve the needed disk blocks by decrementing
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ xfs_trans_reserve(
 	if (blocks > 0) {
 		error = xfs_mod_fdblocks(tp->t_mountp, -((int64_t)blocks), rsvd);
 		if (error != 0) {
-			current_restore_flags_nested(&tp->t_pflags, PF_FSTRANS);
+			current_restore_flags_nested(&tp->t_pflags, PF_MEMALLOC_NOFS);
 			return -ENOSPC;
 		}
 		tp->t_blk_res += blocks;
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ xfs_trans_reserve(
 		tp->t_blk_res = 0;
 	}
 
-	current_restore_flags_nested(&tp->t_pflags, PF_FSTRANS);
+	current_restore_flags_nested(&tp->t_pflags, PF_MEMALLOC_NOFS);
 
 	return error;
 }
@@ -921,7 +921,7 @@ __xfs_trans_commit(
 
 	xfs_log_commit_cil(mp, tp, &commit_lsn, regrant);
 
-	current_restore_flags_nested(&tp->t_pflags, PF_FSTRANS);
+	current_restore_flags_nested(&tp->t_pflags, PF_MEMALLOC_NOFS);
 	xfs_trans_free(tp);
 
 	/*
@@ -951,7 +951,7 @@ __xfs_trans_commit(
 		if (commit_lsn == -1 && !error)
 			error = -EIO;
 	}
-	current_restore_flags_nested(&tp->t_pflags, PF_FSTRANS);
+	current_restore_flags_nested(&tp->t_pflags, PF_MEMALLOC_NOFS);
 	xfs_trans_free_items(tp, NULLCOMMITLSN, !!error);
 	xfs_trans_free(tp);
 
@@ -1005,7 +1005,7 @@ xfs_trans_cancel(
 		xfs_log_done(mp, tp->t_ticket, NULL, false);
 
 	/* mark this thread as no longer being in a transaction */
-	current_restore_flags_nested(&tp->t_pflags, PF_FSTRANS);
+	current_restore_flags_nested(&tp->t_pflags, PF_MEMALLOC_NOFS);
 
 	xfs_trans_free_items(tp, NULLCOMMITLSN, dirty);
 	xfs_trans_free(tp);
diff --git a/include/linux/gfp.h b/include/linux/gfp.h
index 570383a41853..3ebdbdff44b4 100644
--- a/include/linux/gfp.h
+++ b/include/linux/gfp.h
@@ -210,8 +210,16 @@ struct vm_area_struct;
  *
  * GFP_NOIO will use direct reclaim to discard clean pages or slab pages
  *   that do not require the starting of any physical IO.
+ *   Please try to avoid using this flag directly and instead use
+ *   memalloc_noio_{save,restore} to mark the whole scope which cannot
+ *   perform any IO with a short explanation why. All allocation requests
+ *   will inherit GFP_NOIO implicitly.
  *
  * GFP_NOFS will use direct reclaim but will not use any filesystem interfaces.
+ *   Please try to avoid using this flag directly and instead use
+ *   memalloc_nofs_{save,restore} to mark the whole scope which cannot/shouldn't
+ *   recurse into the FS layer with a short explanation why. All allocation
+ *   requests will inherit GFP_NOFS implicitly.
  *
  * GFP_USER is for userspace allocations that also need to be directly
  *   accessibly by the kernel or hardware. It is typically used by hardware
diff --git a/include/linux/sched.h b/include/linux/sched.h
index acfc32b30704..e9521dc0475f 100644
--- a/include/linux/sched.h
+++ b/include/linux/sched.h
@@ -2102,9 +2102,9 @@ extern void thread_group_cputime_adjusted(struct task_struct *p, cputime_t *ut,
 #define PF_USED_ASYNC	0x00004000	/* used async_schedule*(), used by module init */
 #define PF_NOFREEZE	0x00008000	/* this thread should not be frozen */
 #define PF_FROZEN	0x00010000	/* frozen for system suspend */
-#define PF_FSTRANS	0x00020000	/* inside a filesystem transaction */
-#define PF_KSWAPD	0x00040000	/* I am kswapd */
-#define PF_MEMALLOC_NOIO 0x00080000	/* Allocating memory without IO involved */
+#define PF_KSWAPD	0x00020000	/* I am kswapd */
+#define PF_MEMALLOC_NOFS 0x00040000	/* All allocation requests will inherit GFP_NOFS */
+#define PF_MEMALLOC_NOIO 0x00080000	/* All allocation requests will inherit GFP_NOIO */
 #define PF_LESS_THROTTLE 0x00100000	/* Throttle me less: I clean memory */
 #define PF_KTHREAD	0x00200000	/* I am a kernel thread */
 #define PF_RANDOMIZE	0x00400000	/* randomize virtual address space */
@@ -2140,13 +2140,21 @@ extern void thread_group_cputime_adjusted(struct task_struct *p, cputime_t *ut,
 #define tsk_used_math(p) ((p)->flags & PF_USED_MATH)
 #define used_math() tsk_used_math(current)
 
-/* __GFP_IO isn't allowed if PF_MEMALLOC_NOIO is set in current->flags
- * __GFP_FS is also cleared as it implies __GFP_IO.
+/*
+ * Applies per-task gfp context to the given allocation flags.
+ * PF_MEMALLOC_NOIO implies GFP_NOIO
+ * PF_MEMALLOC_NOFS implies GFP_NOFS
  */
-static inline gfp_t memalloc_noio_flags(gfp_t flags)
+static inline gfp_t current_gfp_context(gfp_t flags)
 {
+	/*
+	 * NOIO implies both NOIO and NOFS and it is a weaker context
+	 * so always make sure it makes precendence
+	 */
 	if (unlikely(current->flags & PF_MEMALLOC_NOIO))
 		flags &= ~(__GFP_IO | __GFP_FS);
+	else if (unlikely(current->flags & PF_MEMALLOC_NOFS))
+		flags &= ~__GFP_FS;
 	return flags;
 }
 
@@ -2162,6 +2170,18 @@ static inline void memalloc_noio_restore(unsigned int flags)
 	current->flags = (current->flags & ~PF_MEMALLOC_NOIO) | flags;
 }
 
+static inline unsigned int memalloc_nofs_save(void)
+{
+	unsigned int flags = current->flags & PF_MEMALLOC_NOFS;
+	current->flags |= PF_MEMALLOC_NOFS;
+	return flags;
+}
+
+static inline void memalloc_nofs_restore(unsigned int flags)
+{
+	current->flags = (current->flags & ~PF_MEMALLOC_NOFS) | flags;
+}
+
 /* Per-process atomic flags. */
 #define PFA_NO_NEW_PRIVS 0	/* May not gain new privileges. */
 #define PFA_SPREAD_PAGE  1      /* Spread page cache over cpuset */
diff --git a/mm/page_alloc.c b/mm/page_alloc.c
index 0e2bb8f4ec0b..86bb5d6ddd7d 100644
--- a/mm/page_alloc.c
+++ b/mm/page_alloc.c
@@ -3801,10 +3801,12 @@ __alloc_pages_nodemask(gfp_t gfp_mask, unsigned int order,
 		goto out;
 
 	/*
-	 * Runtime PM, block IO and its error handling path can deadlock
-	 * because I/O on the device might not complete.
+	 * Apply scoped allocation constrains. This is mainly about
+	 * GFP_NOFS resp. GFP_NOIO which has to be inherited for all
+	 * allocation requests from a particular context which has
+	 * been marked by memalloc_no{fs,io}_{save,restore}
 	 */
-	alloc_mask = memalloc_noio_flags(gfp_mask);
+	alloc_mask = current_gfp_context(gfp_mask);
 	ac.spread_dirty_pages = false;
 
 	page = __alloc_pages_slowpath(alloc_mask, order, &ac);
diff --git a/mm/vmscan.c b/mm/vmscan.c
index c4a2f4512fca..cfb74de1efa3 100644
--- a/mm/vmscan.c
+++ b/mm/vmscan.c
@@ -2808,7 +2808,7 @@ unsigned long try_to_free_pages(struct zonelist *zonelist, int order,
 	unsigned long nr_reclaimed;
 	struct scan_control sc = {
 		.nr_to_reclaim = SWAP_CLUSTER_MAX,
-		.gfp_mask = (gfp_mask = memalloc_noio_flags(gfp_mask)),
+		.gfp_mask = (gfp_mask = current_gfp_context(gfp_mask)),
 		.order = order,
 		.nodemask = nodemask,
 		.priority = DEF_PRIORITY,
@@ -3656,7 +3656,7 @@ static int __zone_reclaim(struct zone *zone, gfp_t gfp_mask, unsigned int order)
 	struct reclaim_state reclaim_state;
 	struct scan_control sc = {
 		.nr_to_reclaim = max(nr_pages, SWAP_CLUSTER_MAX),
-		.gfp_mask = (gfp_mask = memalloc_noio_flags(gfp_mask)),
+		.gfp_mask = (gfp_mask = current_gfp_context(gfp_mask)),
 		.order = order,
 		.priority = ZONE_RECLAIM_PRIORITY,
 		.may_writepage = !!(zone_reclaim_mode & RECLAIM_WRITE),
