diff --git a/block/blk-cgroup.c b/block/blk-cgroup.c
index 3d34ac02d76e..cb3d44d20005 100644
--- a/block/blk-cgroup.c
+++ b/block/blk-cgroup.c
@@ -1089,6 +1089,8 @@ static void blkcg_css_offline(struct cgroup_subsys_state *css)
  */
 void blkcg_destroy_blkgs(struct blkcg *blkcg)
 {
+	might_sleep();
+
 	spin_lock_irq(&blkcg->lock);
 
 	while (!hlist_empty(&blkcg->blkg_list)) {
@@ -1096,14 +1098,20 @@ void blkcg_destroy_blkgs(struct blkcg *blkcg)
 						struct blkcg_gq, blkcg_node);
 		struct request_queue *q = blkg->q;
 
-		if (spin_trylock(&q->queue_lock)) {
-			blkg_destroy(blkg);
-			spin_unlock(&q->queue_lock);
-		} else {
+		if (need_resched() || !spin_trylock(&q->queue_lock)) {
+			/*
+			 * Given that the system can accumulate a huge number
+			 * of blkgs in pathological cases, check to see if we
+			 * need to rescheduling to avoid softlockup.
+			 */
 			spin_unlock_irq(&blkcg->lock);
-			cpu_relax();
+			cond_resched();
 			spin_lock_irq(&blkcg->lock);
+			continue;
 		}
+
+		blkg_destroy(blkg);
+		spin_unlock(&q->queue_lock);
 	}
 
 	spin_unlock_irq(&blkcg->lock);