diff --git a/mm/sparse-vmemmap.c b/mm/sparse-vmemmap.c
index 8aecd6b3896c..365e47465ca0 100644
--- a/mm/sparse-vmemmap.c
+++ b/mm/sparse-vmemmap.c
@@ -78,6 +78,14 @@ static int __split_vmemmap_huge_pmd(pmd_t *pmd, unsigned long start)
 
 	spin_lock(&init_mm.page_table_lock);
 	if (likely(pmd_leaf(*pmd))) {
+		/*
+		 * Higher order allocations from buddy allocator must be able to
+		 * be treated as indepdenent small pages (as they can be freed
+		 * individually).
+		 */
+		if (!PageReserved(page))
+			split_page(page, get_order(PMD_SIZE));
+
 		/* Make pte visible before pmd. See comment in pmd_install(). */
 		smp_wmb();
 		pmd_populate_kernel(&init_mm, pmd, pgtable);