Index: linux-2.6.16-rc5-mm3/mm/vmscan.c
===================================================================
--- linux-2.6.16-rc5-mm3.orig/mm/vmscan.c	2006-03-07 09:17:26.000000000 -0800
+++ linux-2.6.16-rc5-mm3/mm/vmscan.c	2006-03-08 20:02:11.000000000 -0800
@@ -1929,10 +1929,14 @@ int zone_reclaim(struct zone *zone, gfp_
 	 * Avoid concurrent zone reclaims, do not reclaim in a zone that does
 	 * not have reclaimable pages and if we should not delay the allocation
 	 * then do not scan.
+	 * If PF_MEMALLOC is set then synchrononous reclaim or kswapd is running.
+	 * So someone is already taking care of the memory problem using
+	 * the reclaim_state that we cannot touch.
 	 */
 	if (!(gfp_mask & __GFP_WAIT) ||
 		zone->all_unreclaimable ||
-		atomic_read(&zone->reclaim_in_progress) > 0)
+		atomic_read(&zone->reclaim_in_progress) > 0 ||
+		(p->flags & PF_MEMALLOC))
 			return 0;
 
 	node_id = zone->zone_pgdat->node_id;