diff --git a/include/linux/cpuset.h b/include/linux/cpuset.h
index 3fe661f..b19d3dc 100644
--- a/include/linux/cpuset.h
+++ b/include/linux/cpuset.h
@@ -87,25 +87,26 @@
 extern void cpuset_print_task_mems_allowed(struct task_struct *p);
 
 /*
- * get_mems_allowed is required when making decisions involving mems_allowed
- * such as during page allocation. mems_allowed can be updated in parallel
- * and depending on the new value an operation can fail potentially causing
- * process failure. A retry loop with get_mems_allowed and put_mems_allowed
- * prevents these artificial failures.
+ * read_mems_allowed_begin is required when making decisions involving
+ * mems_allowed such as during page allocation. mems_allowed can be updated in
+ * parallel and depending on the new value an operation can fail potentially
+ * causing process failure. A retry loop with read_mems_allowed_begin and
+ * read_mems_allowed_retry prevents these artificial failures.
  */
-static inline unsigned int get_mems_allowed(void)
+static inline unsigned int read_mems_allowed_begin(void)
 {
 	return read_seqcount_begin(&current->mems_allowed_seq);
 }
 
 /*
- * If this returns false, the operation that took place after get_mems_allowed
- * may have failed. It is up to the caller to retry the operation if
+ * If this returns true, the operation that took place after
+ * read_mems_allowed_begin may have failed artificially due to a concurrent
+ * update of mems_allowed. It is up to the caller to retry the operation if
  * appropriate.
  */
-static inline bool put_mems_allowed(unsigned int seq)
+static inline bool read_mems_allowed_retry(unsigned int seq)
 {
-	return !read_seqcount_retry(&current->mems_allowed_seq, seq);
+	return read_seqcount_retry(&current->mems_allowed_seq, seq);
 }
 
 static inline void set_mems_allowed(nodemask_t nodemask)
@@ -225,14 +226,14 @@
 {
 }
 
-static inline unsigned int get_mems_allowed(void)
+static inline unsigned int read_mems_allowed_begin(void)
 {
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static inline bool put_mems_allowed(unsigned int seq)
+static inline bool read_mems_allowed_retry(unsigned int seq)
 {
-	return true;
+	return false;
 }
 
 #endif /* !CONFIG_CPUSETS */
diff --git a/kernel/cpuset.c b/kernel/cpuset.c
index e6b1b66..f6fc7475 100644
--- a/kernel/cpuset.c
+++ b/kernel/cpuset.c
@@ -1022,7 +1022,7 @@
 	task_lock(tsk);
 	/*
 	 * Determine if a loop is necessary if another thread is doing
-	 * get_mems_allowed().  If at least one node remains unchanged and
+	 * read_mems_allowed_begin().  If at least one node remains unchanged and
 	 * tsk does not have a mempolicy, then an empty nodemask will not be
 	 * possible when mems_allowed is larger than a word.
 	 */
diff --git a/mm/filemap.c b/mm/filemap.c
index 7a13f6a..068cd2a 100644
--- a/mm/filemap.c
+++ b/mm/filemap.c
@@ -520,10 +520,10 @@
 	if (cpuset_do_page_mem_spread()) {
 		unsigned int cpuset_mems_cookie;
 		do {
-			cpuset_mems_cookie = get_mems_allowed();
+			cpuset_mems_cookie = read_mems_allowed_begin();
 			n = cpuset_mem_spread_node();
 			page = alloc_pages_exact_node(n, gfp, 0);
-		} while (!put_mems_allowed(cpuset_mems_cookie) && !page);
+		} while (!page && read_mems_allowed_retry(cpuset_mems_cookie));
 
 		return page;
 	}
diff --git a/mm/hugetlb.c b/mm/hugetlb.c
index c01cb9f..139b746 100644
--- a/mm/hugetlb.c
+++ b/mm/hugetlb.c
@@ -540,7 +540,7 @@
 		goto err;
 
 retry_cpuset:
-	cpuset_mems_cookie = get_mems_allowed();
+	cpuset_mems_cookie = read_mems_allowed_begin();
 	zonelist = huge_zonelist(vma, address,
 					htlb_alloc_mask(h), &mpol, &nodemask);
 
@@ -562,7 +562,7 @@
 	}
 
 	mpol_cond_put(mpol);
-	if (unlikely(!put_mems_allowed(cpuset_mems_cookie) && !page))
+	if (unlikely(!page && read_mems_allowed_retry(cpuset_mems_cookie)))
 		goto retry_cpuset;
 	return page;
 
diff --git a/mm/mempolicy.c b/mm/mempolicy.c
index 4755c85..e3ab028 100644
--- a/mm/mempolicy.c
+++ b/mm/mempolicy.c
@@ -1899,7 +1899,7 @@
  * If the effective policy is 'BIND, returns a pointer to the mempolicy's
  * @nodemask for filtering the zonelist.
  *
- * Must be protected by get_mems_allowed()
+ * Must be protected by read_mems_allowed_begin()
  */
 struct zonelist *huge_zonelist(struct vm_area_struct *vma, unsigned long addr,
 				gfp_t gfp_flags, struct mempolicy **mpol,
@@ -2063,7 +2063,7 @@
 
 retry_cpuset:
 	pol = get_vma_policy(current, vma, addr);
-	cpuset_mems_cookie = get_mems_allowed();
+	cpuset_mems_cookie = read_mems_allowed_begin();
 
 	if (unlikely(pol->mode == MPOL_INTERLEAVE)) {
 		unsigned nid;
@@ -2071,7 +2071,7 @@
 		nid = interleave_nid(pol, vma, addr, PAGE_SHIFT + order);
 		mpol_cond_put(pol);
 		page = alloc_page_interleave(gfp, order, nid);
-		if (unlikely(!put_mems_allowed(cpuset_mems_cookie) && !page))
+		if (unlikely(!page && read_mems_allowed_retry(cpuset_mems_cookie)))
 			goto retry_cpuset;
 
 		return page;
@@ -2081,7 +2081,7 @@
 				      policy_nodemask(gfp, pol));
 	if (unlikely(mpol_needs_cond_ref(pol)))
 		__mpol_put(pol);
-	if (unlikely(!put_mems_allowed(cpuset_mems_cookie) && !page))
+	if (unlikely(!page && read_mems_allowed_retry(cpuset_mems_cookie)))
 		goto retry_cpuset;
 	return page;
 }
@@ -2115,7 +2115,7 @@
 		pol = &default_policy;
 
 retry_cpuset:
-	cpuset_mems_cookie = get_mems_allowed();
+	cpuset_mems_cookie = read_mems_allowed_begin();
 
 	/*
 	 * No reference counting needed for current->mempolicy
@@ -2128,7 +2128,7 @@
 				policy_zonelist(gfp, pol, numa_node_id()),
 				policy_nodemask(gfp, pol));
 
-	if (unlikely(!put_mems_allowed(cpuset_mems_cookie) && !page))
+	if (unlikely(!page && read_mems_allowed_retry(cpuset_mems_cookie)))
 		goto retry_cpuset;
 
 	return page;
diff --git a/mm/page_alloc.c b/mm/page_alloc.c
index 3bac76a..979378d 100644
--- a/mm/page_alloc.c
+++ b/mm/page_alloc.c
@@ -2739,7 +2739,7 @@
 		return NULL;
 
 retry_cpuset:
-	cpuset_mems_cookie = get_mems_allowed();
+	cpuset_mems_cookie = read_mems_allowed_begin();
 
 	/* The preferred zone is used for statistics later */
 	first_zones_zonelist(zonelist, high_zoneidx,
@@ -2777,7 +2777,7 @@
 	 * the mask is being updated. If a page allocation is about to fail,
 	 * check if the cpuset changed during allocation and if so, retry.
 	 */
-	if (unlikely(!put_mems_allowed(cpuset_mems_cookie) && !page))
+	if (unlikely(!page && read_mems_allowed_retry(cpuset_mems_cookie)))
 		goto retry_cpuset;
 
 	memcg_kmem_commit_charge(page, memcg, order);
@@ -3045,9 +3045,9 @@
 		goto out;
 
 	do {
-		cpuset_mems_cookie = get_mems_allowed();
+		cpuset_mems_cookie = read_mems_allowed_begin();
 		ret = !node_isset(nid, cpuset_current_mems_allowed);
-	} while (!put_mems_allowed(cpuset_mems_cookie));
+	} while (read_mems_allowed_retry(cpuset_mems_cookie));
 out:
 	return ret;
 }
diff --git a/mm/slab.c b/mm/slab.c
index b264214..9153c802 100644
--- a/mm/slab.c
+++ b/mm/slab.c
@@ -3073,7 +3073,7 @@
 	local_flags = flags & (GFP_CONSTRAINT_MASK|GFP_RECLAIM_MASK);
 
 retry_cpuset:
-	cpuset_mems_cookie = get_mems_allowed();
+	cpuset_mems_cookie = read_mems_allowed_begin();
 	zonelist = node_zonelist(slab_node(), flags);
 
 retry:
@@ -3131,7 +3131,7 @@
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (unlikely(!put_mems_allowed(cpuset_mems_cookie) && !obj))
+	if (unlikely(!obj && read_mems_allowed_retry(cpuset_mems_cookie)))
 		goto retry_cpuset;
 	return obj;
 }
diff --git a/mm/slub.c b/mm/slub.c
index 25f14ad..7611f14 100644
--- a/mm/slub.c
+++ b/mm/slub.c
@@ -1684,7 +1684,7 @@
 		return NULL;
 
 	do {
-		cpuset_mems_cookie = get_mems_allowed();
+		cpuset_mems_cookie = read_mems_allowed_begin();
 		zonelist = node_zonelist(slab_node(), flags);
 		for_each_zone_zonelist(zone, z, zonelist, high_zoneidx) {
 			struct kmem_cache_node *n;
@@ -1696,19 +1696,17 @@
 				object = get_partial_node(s, n, c, flags);
 				if (object) {
 					/*
-					 * Return the object even if
-					 * put_mems_allowed indicated that
-					 * the cpuset mems_allowed was
-					 * updated in parallel. It's a
-					 * harmless race between the alloc
-					 * and the cpuset update.
+					 * Don't check read_mems_allowed_retry()
+					 * here - if mems_allowed was updated in
+					 * parallel, that was a harmless race
+					 * between allocation and the cpuset
+					 * update
 					 */
-					put_mems_allowed(cpuset_mems_cookie);
 					return object;
 				}
 			}
 		}
-	} while (!put_mems_allowed(cpuset_mems_cookie));
+	} while (read_mems_allowed_retry(cpuset_mems_cookie));
 #endif
 	return NULL;
 }