diff --git a/include/linux/mempolicy.h b/include/linux/mempolicy.h
index 5f1c74df264d..a47d02df99ac 100644
--- a/include/linux/mempolicy.h
+++ b/include/linux/mempolicy.h
@@ -100,12 +100,12 @@ static inline void mpol_get(struct mempolicy *pol)
 		atomic_inc(&pol->refcnt);
 }
 
-extern bool __mpol_equal(struct mempolicy *a, struct mempolicy *b);
-static inline bool mpol_equal(struct mempolicy *a, struct mempolicy *b)
+extern bool __mpol_equal(struct mempolicy *a, struct mempolicy *b, int nflag);
+static inline bool mpol_equal(struct mempolicy *a, struct mempolicy *b, int nflag)
 {
 	if (a == b)
 		return true;
-	return __mpol_equal(a, b);
+	return __mpol_equal(a, b, nflag);
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/mm/mempolicy.c b/mm/mempolicy.c
index ab51132547b8..75fb61c5f98f 100644
--- a/mm/mempolicy.c
+++ b/mm/mempolicy.c
@@ -800,7 +800,7 @@ static int vma_replace_policy(struct vm_area_struct *vma,
 
 /* Step 2: apply policy to a range and do splits. */
 static int mbind_range(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long start,
-		       unsigned long end, struct mempolicy *new_pol)
+		       unsigned long end, struct mempolicy *new_pol, int nflag)
 {
 	struct vm_area_struct *next;
 	struct vm_area_struct *prev;
@@ -822,7 +822,7 @@ static int mbind_range(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long start,
 		vmstart = max(start, vma->vm_start);
 		vmend   = min(end, vma->vm_end);
 
-		if (mpol_equal(vma_policy(vma), new_pol))
+		if (mpol_equal(vma_policy(vma), new_pol, nflag))
 			continue;
 
 		pgoff = vma->vm_pgoff +
@@ -1282,6 +1282,7 @@ static long do_mbind(unsigned long start, unsigned long len,
 	unsigned long end;
 	int err;
 	int ret;
+	int nflag;
 	LIST_HEAD(pagelist);
 
 	if (flags & ~(unsigned long)MPOL_MF_VALID)
@@ -1346,8 +1347,11 @@ static long do_mbind(unsigned long start, unsigned long len,
 		err = ret;
 		goto up_out;
 	}
-
-	err = mbind_range(mm, start, end, new);
+	nflag = 0;
+	if (new->mode == MPOL_PREFERRED && nodes_empty(*nmask)){
+		nflag = 1;
+	}
+	err = mbind_range(mm, start, end, new, nflag);
 
 	if (!err) {
 		int nr_failed = 0;
@@ -2328,7 +2332,7 @@ struct mempolicy *__mpol_dup(struct mempolicy *old)
 }
 
 /* Slow path of a mempolicy comparison */
-bool __mpol_equal(struct mempolicy *a, struct mempolicy *b)
+bool __mpol_equal(struct mempolicy *a, struct mempolicy *b, int nflag)
 {
 	if (!a || !b)
 		return false;
@@ -2336,9 +2340,10 @@ bool __mpol_equal(struct mempolicy *a, struct mempolicy *b)
 		return false;
 	if (a->flags != b->flags)
 		return false;
-	if (mpol_store_user_nodemask(a))
+	if (mpol_store_user_nodemask(a) && !nflag) {
 		if (!nodes_equal(a->w.user_nodemask, b->w.user_nodemask))
 			return false;
+	}
 
 	switch (a->mode) {
 	case MPOL_BIND: