diff --git a/kernel/rcu/tree.c b/kernel/rcu/tree.c
index c5de5adca0dd0..e0425faf3b3b1 100644
--- a/kernel/rcu/tree.c
+++ b/kernel/rcu/tree.c
@@ -3202,6 +3202,18 @@ kfree_call_rcu_add_ptr_to_bulk(struct kfree_rcu_cpu *krcp,
 		if (!bnode) {
 			WARN_ON_ONCE(sizeof(struct kfree_rcu_bulk_data) > PAGE_SIZE);
 
+			/*
+			 * To keep this path working on raw non-preemptible
+			 * sections, prevent the optional entry into the
+			 * allocator as it uses sleeping locks. In fact, even
+			 * if the caller of kfree_rcu() is preemptible, this
+			 * path still is not, as krcp->lock is a raw spinlock.
+			 * With additional page pre-allocation in the works,
+			 * hitting this return is going to be much less likely.
+			 */
+			if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_PREEMPT_RT))
+				return false;
+
 			bnode = (struct kfree_rcu_bulk_data *)
 				__get_free_page(GFP_NOWAIT | __GFP_NOWARN);
 		}