diff --git a/kernel/sched/ext.c b/kernel/sched/ext.c
index 5cd878bbd0e39..a28ddd7655ba8 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/ext.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/ext.c
@@ -807,6 +807,7 @@ enum scx_deq_flags {
 enum scx_pick_idle_cpu_flags {
 	SCX_PICK_IDLE_CORE	= 1LLU << 0,	/* pick a CPU whose SMT siblings are also idle */
 	SCX_PICK_IDLE_IN_NODE	= 1LLU << 1,	/* pick a CPU in the same target NUMA node */
+	SCX_PICK_IDLE_IN_PREF	= 1LLU << 2,	/* pick a CPU in the preferred domain */
 };
 
 enum scx_kick_flags {
@@ -3396,7 +3397,7 @@ static int select_task_rq_scx(struct task_struct *p, int prev_cpu, int wake_flag
 		bool found;
 		s32 cpu;
 
-		cpu = scx_select_cpu_dfl(p, prev_cpu, wake_flags, 0, &found);
+		cpu = scx_select_cpu_dfl(p, NULL, prev_cpu, wake_flags, 0, &found);
 		p->scx.selected_cpu = cpu;
 		if (found) {
 			p->scx.slice = SCX_SLICE_DFL;
diff --git a/kernel/sched/ext_idle.c b/kernel/sched/ext_idle.c
index 16981456ec1ed..9b002e109404b 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/ext_idle.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/ext_idle.c
@@ -46,6 +46,11 @@ static struct scx_idle_cpus scx_idle_global_masks;
  */
 static struct scx_idle_cpus **scx_idle_node_masks;
 
+/*
+ * Local per-CPU cpumasks (used to generate temporary idle cpumasks).
+ */
+static DEFINE_PER_CPU(cpumask_var_t, local_idle_cpumask);
+
 /*
  * Return the idle masks associated to a target @node.
  *
@@ -403,52 +408,80 @@ void scx_idle_update_selcpu_topology(struct sched_ext_ops *ops)
  *     branch prediction optimizations.
  *
  * 3. Pick a CPU within the same LLC (Last-Level Cache):
- *   - if the above conditions aren't met, pick a CPU that shares the same LLC
- *     to maintain cache locality.
+ *   - if the above conditions aren't met, pick a CPU that shares the same
+ *     LLC, if the LLC domain is a subset of @preferred_cpus, to maintain
+ *     cache locality.
  *
  * 4. Pick a CPU within the same NUMA node, if enabled:
- *   - choose a CPU from the same NUMA node to reduce memory access latency.
+ *   - choose a CPU from the same NUMA node, if the node domain is a subset
+ *     of @preferred_cpus, to reduce memory access latency.
+ *
+ * 5. Pick a CPU within @preferred_cpus.
  *
- * 5. Pick any idle CPU usable by the task.
+ * 6. Pick any idle CPU usable by the task.
  *
  * Step 3 and 4 are performed only if the system has, respectively, multiple
  * LLC domains / multiple NUMA nodes (see scx_selcpu_topo_llc and
- * scx_selcpu_topo_numa).
+ * scx_selcpu_topo_numa) and their domains don't overlap.
+ *
+ * If %SCX_OPS_BUILTIN_IDLE_PER_NODE is enabled, the search will always
+ * begin in @prev_cpu's node and proceed to other nodes in order of
+ * increasing distance.
+ *
+ * Return the picked CPU with *@found set, indicating whether the picked
+ * CPU is currently idle, or a negative value otherwise.
  *
  * NOTE: tasks that can only run on 1 CPU are excluded by this logic, because
  * we never call ops.select_cpu() for them, see select_task_rq().
  */
-s32 scx_select_cpu_dfl(struct task_struct *p, s32 prev_cpu, u64 wake_flags, u64 flags, bool *found)
+s32 scx_select_cpu_dfl(struct task_struct *p, const struct cpumask *preferred_cpus,
+		       s32 prev_cpu, u64 wake_flags, u64 flags, bool *found)
 {
 	const struct cpumask *llc_cpus = NULL;
 	const struct cpumask *numa_cpus = NULL;
-	int node = scx_cpu_node_if_enabled(prev_cpu);
+	int node;
 	s32 cpu;
 
 	*found = false;
 
+	/*
+	 * If @prev_cpu is not in the preferred domain, try to assign a new
+	 * arbitrary CPU in the preferred domain.
+	 */
+	if (preferred_cpus && !cpumask_test_cpu(prev_cpu, preferred_cpus)) {
+		cpu = cpumask_any_and_distribute(p->cpus_ptr, preferred_cpus);
+		if (cpu < nr_cpu_ids) {
+			prev_cpu = cpu;
+			node = scx_cpu_node_if_enabled(prev_cpu);
+		}
+	} else {
+		node = scx_cpu_node_if_enabled(prev_cpu);
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * This is necessary to protect llc_cpus.
 	 */
 	rcu_read_lock();
 
 	/*
-	 * Determine the scheduling domain only if the task is allowed to run
-	 * on all CPUs.
-	 *
-	 * This is done primarily for efficiency, as it avoids the overhead of
-	 * updating a cpumask every time we need to select an idle CPU (which
-	 * can be costly in large SMP systems), but it also aligns logically:
-	 * if a task's scheduling domain is restricted by user-space (through
-	 * CPU affinity), the task will simply use the flat scheduling domain
-	 * defined by user-space.
+	 * Consider node/LLC scheduling domains only if the preferred
+	 * cpumask contains all the CPUs of each particular domain and if
+	 * the domains don't overlap.
 	 */
-	if (p->nr_cpus_allowed >= num_possible_cpus()) {
-		if (static_branch_maybe(CONFIG_NUMA, &scx_selcpu_topo_numa))
-			numa_cpus = numa_span(prev_cpu);
+	if (static_branch_maybe(CONFIG_NUMA, &scx_selcpu_topo_numa)) {
+		const struct cpumask *cpus = numa_span(prev_cpu);
+		const struct cpumask *pref = preferred_cpus ?: p->cpus_ptr;
 
-		if (static_branch_maybe(CONFIG_SCHED_MC, &scx_selcpu_topo_llc))
-			llc_cpus = llc_span(prev_cpu);
+		if (!cpumask_equal(cpus, pref) && cpumask_subset(cpus, pref))
+			numa_cpus = cpus;
+	}
+
+	if (static_branch_maybe(CONFIG_SCHED_MC, &scx_selcpu_topo_llc)) {
+		const struct cpumask *cpus = llc_span(prev_cpu);
+		const struct cpumask *pref = preferred_cpus ?: p->cpus_ptr;
+
+		if (!cpumask_equal(cpus, pref) && cpumask_subset(cpus, pref))
+			llc_cpus = cpus;
 	}
 
 	/*
@@ -486,7 +519,7 @@ s32 scx_select_cpu_dfl(struct task_struct *p, s32 prev_cpu, u64 wake_flags, u64
 		    cpu_rq(cpu)->scx.local_dsq.nr == 0 &&
 		    (!(flags & SCX_PICK_IDLE_IN_NODE) || (waker_node == node)) &&
 		    !cpumask_empty(idle_cpumask(waker_node)->cpu)) {
-			if (cpumask_test_cpu(cpu, p->cpus_ptr))
+			if (cpumask_test_cpu(cpu, preferred_cpus ?: p->cpus_ptr))
 				goto cpu_found;
 		}
 	}
@@ -523,6 +556,20 @@ s32 scx_select_cpu_dfl(struct task_struct *p, s32 prev_cpu, u64 wake_flags, u64
 				goto cpu_found;
 		}
 
+		/*
+		 * Search for any full-idle core in the preferred domain.
+		 *
+		 * If the node-aware idle CPU selection policy is enabled
+		 * (%SCX_OPS_BUILTIN_IDLE_PER_NODE), the search will always
+		 * begin in prev_cpu's node and proceed to other nodes in
+		 * order of increasing distance.
+		 */
+		if (preferred_cpus) {
+			cpu = scx_pick_idle_cpu(preferred_cpus, node, flags | SCX_PICK_IDLE_CORE);
+			if (cpu >= 0)
+				goto cpu_found;
+		}
+
 		/*
 		 * Search for any full-idle core usable by the task.
 		 *
@@ -531,9 +578,11 @@ s32 scx_select_cpu_dfl(struct task_struct *p, s32 prev_cpu, u64 wake_flags, u64
 		 * begin in prev_cpu's node and proceed to other nodes in
 		 * order of increasing distance.
 		 */
-		cpu = scx_pick_idle_cpu(p->cpus_ptr, node, flags | SCX_PICK_IDLE_CORE);
-		if (cpu >= 0)
-			goto cpu_found;
+		if (!(flags & SCX_PICK_IDLE_IN_PREF)) {
+			cpu = scx_pick_idle_cpu(p->cpus_ptr, node, flags | SCX_PICK_IDLE_CORE);
+			if (cpu >= 0)
+				goto cpu_found;
+		}
 
 		/*
 		 * Give up if we're strictly looking for a full-idle SMT
@@ -571,6 +620,20 @@ s32 scx_select_cpu_dfl(struct task_struct *p, s32 prev_cpu, u64 wake_flags, u64
 			goto cpu_found;
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * Search for any idle CPU in the preferred domain.
+	 *
+	 * If the node-aware idle CPU selection policy is enabled
+	 * (%SCX_OPS_BUILTIN_IDLE_PER_NODE), the search will always begin
+	 * in prev_cpu's node and proceed to other nodes in order of
+	 * increasing distance.
+	 */
+	if (preferred_cpus) {
+		cpu = scx_pick_idle_cpu(preferred_cpus, node, flags);
+		if (cpu >= 0)
+			goto cpu_found;
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * Search for any idle CPU usable by the task.
 	 *
@@ -579,9 +642,11 @@ s32 scx_select_cpu_dfl(struct task_struct *p, s32 prev_cpu, u64 wake_flags, u64
 	 * in prev_cpu's node and proceed to other nodes in order of
 	 * increasing distance.
 	 */
-	cpu = scx_pick_idle_cpu(p->cpus_ptr, node, flags);
-	if (cpu >= 0)
-		goto cpu_found;
+	if (!(flags & SCX_PICK_IDLE_IN_PREF)) {
+		cpu = scx_pick_idle_cpu(p->cpus_ptr, node, flags);
+		if (cpu >= 0)
+			goto cpu_found;
+	}
 
 	cpu = prev_cpu;
 	goto out_unlock;
@@ -599,7 +664,7 @@ s32 scx_select_cpu_dfl(struct task_struct *p, s32 prev_cpu, u64 wake_flags, u64
  */
 void scx_idle_init_masks(void)
 {
-	int node;
+	int i;
 
 	/* Allocate global idle cpumasks */
 	BUG_ON(!alloc_cpumask_var(&scx_idle_global_masks.cpu, GFP_KERNEL));
@@ -610,14 +675,19 @@ void scx_idle_init_masks(void)
 				      sizeof(*scx_idle_node_masks), GFP_KERNEL);
 	BUG_ON(!scx_idle_node_masks);
 
-	for_each_node(node) {
-		scx_idle_node_masks[node] = kzalloc_node(sizeof(**scx_idle_node_masks),
-							 GFP_KERNEL, node);
-		BUG_ON(!scx_idle_node_masks[node]);
+	for_each_node(i) {
+		scx_idle_node_masks[i] = kzalloc_node(sizeof(**scx_idle_node_masks),
+							 GFP_KERNEL, i);
+		BUG_ON(!scx_idle_node_masks[i]);
 
-		BUG_ON(!alloc_cpumask_var_node(&scx_idle_node_masks[node]->cpu, GFP_KERNEL, node));
-		BUG_ON(!alloc_cpumask_var_node(&scx_idle_node_masks[node]->smt, GFP_KERNEL, node));
+		BUG_ON(!alloc_cpumask_var_node(&scx_idle_node_masks[i]->cpu, GFP_KERNEL, i));
+		BUG_ON(!alloc_cpumask_var_node(&scx_idle_node_masks[i]->smt, GFP_KERNEL, i));
 	}
+
+	/* Allocate local per-cpu idle cpumasks */
+	for_each_possible_cpu(i)
+		BUG_ON(!alloc_cpumask_var_node(&per_cpu(local_idle_cpumask, i),
+					       GFP_KERNEL, cpu_to_node(i)));
 }
 
 static void update_builtin_idle(int cpu, bool idle)
@@ -829,7 +899,7 @@ __bpf_kfunc s32 scx_bpf_select_cpu_dfl(struct task_struct *p, s32 prev_cpu,
 		goto prev_cpu;
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_SMP
-	return scx_select_cpu_dfl(p, prev_cpu, wake_flags, 0, is_idle);
+	return scx_select_cpu_dfl(p, NULL, prev_cpu, wake_flags, 0, is_idle);
 #endif
 
 prev_cpu:
diff --git a/kernel/sched/ext_idle.h b/kernel/sched/ext_idle.h
index 5c1db6b315f7a..386bde7e8ee3e 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/ext_idle.h
+++ b/kernel/sched/ext_idle.h
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ static inline s32 scx_pick_idle_cpu(const struct cpumask *cpus_allowed, int node
 }
 #endif /* CONFIG_SMP */
 
-s32 scx_select_cpu_dfl(struct task_struct *p, s32 prev_cpu, u64 wake_flags, u64 flags, bool *found);
+s32 scx_select_cpu_dfl(struct task_struct *p, const struct cpumask *preferred_cpus,
+		       s32 prev_cpu, u64 wake_flags, u64 flags, bool *found);
 void scx_idle_enable(struct sched_ext_ops *ops);
 void scx_idle_disable(void);
 int scx_idle_init(void);
diff --git a/tools/sched_ext/include/scx/compat.h b/tools/sched_ext/include/scx/compat.h
index 35c67c5174ac0..f9c06079b3a86 100644
--- a/tools/sched_ext/include/scx/compat.h
+++ b/tools/sched_ext/include/scx/compat.h
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ static inline bool __COMPAT_struct_has_field(const char *type, const char *field
 
 #define SCX_PICK_IDLE_CORE SCX_PICK_IDLE_FLAG(SCX_PICK_IDLE_CORE)
 #define SCX_PICK_IDLE_IN_NODE SCX_PICK_IDLE_FLAG(SCX_PICK_IDLE_IN_NODE)
+#define SCX_PICK_IDLE_IN_PREF SCX_PICK_IDLE_FLAG(SCX_PICK_IDLE_IN_PREF)
 
 static inline long scx_hotplug_seq(void)
 {
