diff --git a/fs/lockd/svc.c b/fs/lockd/svc.c
index ab8042a5b895..7d74858e1abe 100644
--- a/fs/lockd/svc.c
+++ b/fs/lockd/svc.c
@@ -125,6 +125,8 @@ lockd(void *vrqstp)
 	struct net *net = &init_net;
 	struct lockd_net *ln = net_generic(net, lockd_net_id);
 
+	svc_thread_init_status(rqstp, 0);
+
 	/* try_to_freeze() is called from svc_recv() */
 	set_freezable();
 
diff --git a/fs/nfs/callback.c b/fs/nfs/callback.c
index 8adfcd4c8c1a..6cf92498a5ac 100644
--- a/fs/nfs/callback.c
+++ b/fs/nfs/callback.c
@@ -76,6 +76,8 @@ nfs4_callback_svc(void *vrqstp)
 {
 	struct svc_rqst *rqstp = vrqstp;
 
+	svc_thread_init_status(rqstp, 0);
+
 	set_freezable();
 
 	while (!svc_thread_should_stop(rqstp))
diff --git a/fs/nfsd/nfssvc.c b/fs/nfsd/nfssvc.c
index 89d7918de7b1..2a99787d6a86 100644
--- a/fs/nfsd/nfssvc.c
+++ b/fs/nfsd/nfssvc.c
@@ -915,11 +915,9 @@ nfsd(void *vrqstp)
 
 	/* At this point, the thread shares current->fs
 	 * with the init process. We need to create files with the
-	 * umask as defined by the client instead of init's umask. */
-	if (unshare_fs_struct() < 0) {
-		printk("Unable to start nfsd thread: out of memory\n");
-		goto out;
-	}
+	 * umask as defined by the client instead of init's umask.
+	 */
+	svc_thread_init_status(rqstp, unshare_fs_struct());
 
 	current->fs->umask = 0;
 
@@ -941,7 +939,6 @@ nfsd(void *vrqstp)
 
 	atomic_dec(&nfsd_th_cnt);
 
-out:
 	/* Release the thread */
 	svc_exit_thread(rqstp);
 	return 0;
diff --git a/include/linux/sunrpc/svc.h b/include/linux/sunrpc/svc.h
index 01383ea077ad..2c4366afc9bd 100644
--- a/include/linux/sunrpc/svc.h
+++ b/include/linux/sunrpc/svc.h
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #include <linux/wait.h>
 #include <linux/mm.h>
 #include <linux/pagevec.h>
+#include <linux/kthread.h>
 
 /*
  *
@@ -231,6 +232,11 @@ struct svc_rqst {
 	struct net		*rq_bc_net;	/* pointer to backchannel's
 						 * net namespace
 						 */
+
+	int			rq_err;		/* Thread sets this to inidicate
+						 * initialisation success.
+						 */
+
 	unsigned long	bc_to_initval;
 	unsigned int	bc_to_retries;
 	void **			rq_lease_breaker; /* The v4 client breaking a lease */
@@ -304,6 +310,28 @@ static inline bool svc_thread_should_stop(struct svc_rqst *rqstp)
 	return test_bit(RQ_VICTIM, &rqstp->rq_flags);
 }
 
+/**
+ * svc_thread_init_status - report whether thread has initialised successfully
+ * @rqstp: the thread in question
+ * @err: errno code
+ *
+ * After performing any initialisation that could fail, and before starting
+ * normal work, each sunrpc svc_thread must call svc_thread_init_status()
+ * with an appropriate error, or zero.
+ *
+ * If zero is passed, the thread is ready and must continue until
+ * svc_thread_should_stop() returns true.  If a non-zero error is passed
+ * the call will not return - the thread will exit.
+ */
+static inline void svc_thread_init_status(struct svc_rqst *rqstp, int err)
+{
+	/* store_release ensures svc_start_kthreads() sees the error */
+	smp_store_release(&rqstp->rq_err, err);
+	wake_up_var(&rqstp->rq_err);
+	if (err)
+		kthread_exit(1);
+}
+
 struct svc_deferred_req {
 	u32			prot;	/* protocol (UDP or TCP) */
 	struct svc_xprt		*xprt;
diff --git a/net/sunrpc/svc.c b/net/sunrpc/svc.c
index c0e91bea72e7..0fc9c97ae419 100644
--- a/net/sunrpc/svc.c
+++ b/net/sunrpc/svc.c
@@ -662,6 +662,8 @@ svc_prepare_thread(struct svc_serv *serv, struct svc_pool *pool, int node)
 	if (!svc_init_buffer(rqstp, serv->sv_max_mesg, node))
 		goto out_enomem;
 
+	rqstp->rq_err = -EAGAIN; /* No error yet */
+
 	spin_lock_bh(&serv->sv_lock);
 	serv->sv_nrthreads += 1;
 	spin_unlock_bh(&serv->sv_lock);
@@ -760,6 +762,7 @@ svc_start_kthreads(struct svc_serv *serv, struct svc_pool *pool, int nrservs)
 	struct svc_pool *chosen_pool;
 	unsigned int state = serv->sv_nrthreads-1;
 	int node;
+	int err;
 
 	do {
 		nrservs--;
@@ -782,6 +785,14 @@ svc_start_kthreads(struct svc_serv *serv, struct svc_pool *pool, int nrservs)
 
 		svc_sock_update_bufs(serv);
 		wake_up_process(task);
+
+		/* load_acquire ensures we get value stored in svc_thread_init_status() */
+		wait_var_event(&rqstp->rq_err, smp_load_acquire(&rqstp->rq_err) != -EAGAIN);
+		err = rqstp->rq_err;
+		if (err) {
+			svc_exit_thread(rqstp);
+			return err;
+		}
 	} while (nrservs > 0);
 
 	return 0;
