diff --git a/kernel/sched/fair.c b/kernel/sched/fair.c
index 4c8f45ed093c..3c11dcdedcbc 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/fair.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/fair.c
@@ -4729,6 +4729,11 @@ static void start_cfs_slack_bandwidth(struct cfs_bandwidth *cfs_b)
 	if (runtime_refresh_within(cfs_b, min_left))
 		return;
 
+	/* don't push forwards an existing deferred unthrottle */
+	if (cfs_b->slack_started)
+		return;
+	cfs_b->slack_started = true;
+
 	hrtimer_start(&cfs_b->slack_timer,
 			ns_to_ktime(cfs_bandwidth_slack_period),
 			HRTIMER_MODE_REL);
@@ -4782,6 +4787,7 @@ static void do_sched_cfs_slack_timer(struct cfs_bandwidth *cfs_b)
 
 	/* confirm we're still not at a refresh boundary */
 	raw_spin_lock_irqsave(&cfs_b->lock, flags);
+	cfs_b->slack_started = false;
 	if (cfs_b->distribute_running) {
 		raw_spin_unlock_irqrestore(&cfs_b->lock, flags);
 		return;
@@ -4945,6 +4951,7 @@ void init_cfs_bandwidth(struct cfs_bandwidth *cfs_b)
 	hrtimer_init(&cfs_b->slack_timer, CLOCK_MONOTONIC, HRTIMER_MODE_REL);
 	cfs_b->slack_timer.function = sched_cfs_slack_timer;
 	cfs_b->distribute_running = 0;
+	cfs_b->slack_started = false;
 }
 
 static void init_cfs_rq_runtime(struct cfs_rq *cfs_rq)
diff --git a/kernel/sched/sched.h b/kernel/sched/sched.h
index 607859a18b2a..b08dee29ef5e 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/sched.h
+++ b/kernel/sched/sched.h
@@ -338,8 +338,10 @@ struct cfs_bandwidth {
 	u64			runtime_expires;
 	int			expires_seq;
 
-	short			idle;
-	short			period_active;
+	u8			idle;
+	u8			period_active;
+	u8			distribute_running;
+	u8			slack_started;
 	struct hrtimer		period_timer;
 	struct hrtimer		slack_timer;
 	struct list_head	throttled_cfs_rq;
@@ -348,8 +350,6 @@ struct cfs_bandwidth {
 	int			nr_periods;
 	int			nr_throttled;
 	u64			throttled_time;
-
-	bool                    distribute_running;
 #endif
 };