diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/tboot.c b/arch/x86/kernel/tboot.c
index 992fb1415c0f..b92ea1bb3bb9 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/tboot.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/tboot.c
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include <linux/mm.h>
 #include <linux/tboot.h>
 #include <linux/debugfs.h>
+#include <linux/refcount.h>
 
 #include <asm/realmode.h>
 #include <asm/processor.h>
@@ -93,6 +94,7 @@ static struct mm_struct tboot_mm = {
 	.pgd            = swapper_pg_dir,
 	.mm_users       = ATOMIC_INIT(2),
 	.mm_count       = ATOMIC_INIT(1),
+	.mm_bare_refs   = REFCOUNT_INIT(1),
 	MMAP_LOCK_INITIALIZER(init_mm)
 	.page_table_lock =  __SPIN_LOCK_UNLOCKED(init_mm.page_table_lock),
 	.mmlist         = LIST_HEAD_INIT(init_mm.mmlist),
diff --git a/drivers/firmware/efi/efi.c b/drivers/firmware/efi/efi.c
index 3aa07c3b5136..3b73a0717c6e 100644
--- a/drivers/firmware/efi/efi.c
+++ b/drivers/firmware/efi/efi.c
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 #include <linux/platform_device.h>
 #include <linux/random.h>
 #include <linux/reboot.h>
+#include <linux/refcount.h>
 #include <linux/slab.h>
 #include <linux/acpi.h>
 #include <linux/ucs2_string.h>
@@ -54,6 +55,7 @@ struct mm_struct efi_mm = {
 	.mm_rb			= RB_ROOT,
 	.mm_users		= ATOMIC_INIT(2),
 	.mm_count		= ATOMIC_INIT(1),
+	.mm_bare_refs		= REFCOUNT_INIT(1),
 	MMAP_LOCK_INITIALIZER(efi_mm)
 	.page_table_lock	= __SPIN_LOCK_UNLOCKED(efi_mm.page_table_lock),
 	.mmlist			= LIST_HEAD_INIT(efi_mm.mmlist),
diff --git a/include/linux/mm_types.h b/include/linux/mm_types.h
index ed028af3cb19..764d251966c7 100644
--- a/include/linux/mm_types.h
+++ b/include/linux/mm_types.h
@@ -429,13 +429,22 @@ struct mm_struct {
 
 		/**
 		 * @mm_count: The number of references to &struct mm_struct
-		 * (@mm_users count as 1).
+		 * including its pgd (@mm_users count as 1).
 		 *
 		 * Use mmgrab()/mmdrop() to modify. When this drops to 0, the
-		 * &struct mm_struct is freed.
+		 * pgd is freed.
 		 */
 		atomic_t mm_count;
 
+		/**
+		 * @mm_bare_refs: The number of references to &struct mm_struct
+		 * that preserve no page table state whatsoever (@mm_count
+		 * counts as 1).
+		 *
+		 * When this drops to 0, the &struct mm_struct is freed.
+		 */
+		refcount_t mm_bare_refs;
+
 		/**
 		 * @has_pinned: Whether this mm has pinned any pages.  This can
 		 * be either replaced in the future by @pinned_vm when it
diff --git a/include/linux/sched/mm.h b/include/linux/sched/mm.h
index f889e332912f..e5b236e15757 100644
--- a/include/linux/sched/mm.h
+++ b/include/linux/sched/mm.h
@@ -109,6 +109,19 @@ extern void mmput(struct mm_struct *);
 void mmput_async(struct mm_struct *);
 #endif
 
+static inline void mm_ref(struct mm_struct *mm)
+{
+	refcount_inc(&mm->mm_bare_refs);
+}
+
+void __mm_unref(struct mm_struct *mm);
+
+static inline void mm_unref(struct mm_struct *mm)
+{
+	if (refcount_dec_and_test(&mm->mm_bare_refs))
+		__mm_unref(mm);
+}
+
 /* Grab a reference to a task's mm, if it is not already going away */
 extern struct mm_struct *get_task_mm(struct task_struct *task);
 /*
diff --git a/kernel/fork.c b/kernel/fork.c
index 4942428a217c..fcdd1ace79e4 100644
--- a/kernel/fork.c
+++ b/kernel/fork.c
@@ -642,10 +642,16 @@ static void check_mm(struct mm_struct *mm)
 #define allocate_mm()	(kmem_cache_alloc(mm_cachep, GFP_KERNEL))
 #define free_mm(mm)	(kmem_cache_free(mm_cachep, (mm)))
 
+void __mm_unref(struct mm_struct *mm)
+{
+	put_user_ns(mm->user_ns);
+	free_mm(mm);
+}
+
 /*
- * Called when the last reference to the mm
+ * Called when the last PGD-preserving reference to the mm
  * is dropped: either by a lazy thread or by
- * mmput. Free the page directory and the mm.
+ * mmput. Free the page directory.
  */
 void __mmdrop(struct mm_struct *mm)
 {
@@ -656,8 +662,7 @@ void __mmdrop(struct mm_struct *mm)
 	destroy_context(mm);
 	mmu_notifier_subscriptions_destroy(mm);
 	check_mm(mm);
-	put_user_ns(mm->user_ns);
-	free_mm(mm);
+	mm_unref(mm);
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(__mmdrop);
 
@@ -1007,6 +1012,7 @@ static struct mm_struct *mm_init(struct mm_struct *mm, struct task_struct *p,
 	mm->vmacache_seqnum = 0;
 	atomic_set(&mm->mm_users, 1);
 	atomic_set(&mm->mm_count, 1);
+	refcount_set(&mm->mm_bare_refs, 1);
 	mmap_init_lock(mm);
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&mm->mmlist);
 	mm->core_state = NULL;
diff --git a/mm/init-mm.c b/mm/init-mm.c
index 3a613c85f9ed..3c3cd35236fd 100644
--- a/mm/init-mm.c
+++ b/mm/init-mm.c
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 #include <linux/cpumask.h>
 #include <linux/mman.h>
 #include <linux/pgtable.h>
+#include <linux/refcount.h>
 
 #include <linux/atomic.h>
 #include <linux/user_namespace.h>
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ struct mm_struct init_mm = {
 	.pgd		= swapper_pg_dir,
 	.mm_users	= ATOMIC_INIT(2),
 	.mm_count	= ATOMIC_INIT(1),
+	.mm_bare_refs	= REFCOUNT_INIT(1),
 	MMAP_LOCK_INITIALIZER(init_mm)
 	.page_table_lock =  __SPIN_LOCK_UNLOCKED(init_mm.page_table_lock),
 	.arg_lock	=  __SPIN_LOCK_UNLOCKED(init_mm.arg_lock),
