diff --git a/fs/nfs/dir.c b/fs/nfs/dir.c
index 93c6f22cdc62..3f70697729d8 100644
--- a/fs/nfs/dir.c
+++ b/fs/nfs/dir.c
@@ -937,11 +937,28 @@ static int find_and_lock_cache_page(struct nfs_readdir_descriptor *desc)
 	return res;
 }
 
+static bool nfs_readdir_dont_search_cache(struct nfs_readdir_descriptor *desc)
+{
+	struct address_space *mapping = desc->file->f_mapping;
+	struct inode *dir = file_inode(desc->file);
+	unsigned int dtsize = NFS_SERVER(dir)->dtsize;
+	loff_t size = i_size_read(dir);
+
+	/*
+	 * Default to uncached readdir if the page cache is empty, and
+	 * we're looking for a non-zero cookie in a large directory.
+	 */
+	return desc->dir_cookie != 0 && mapping->nrpages == 0 && size > dtsize;
+}
+
 /* Search for desc->dir_cookie from the beginning of the page cache */
 static int readdir_search_pagecache(struct nfs_readdir_descriptor *desc)
 {
 	int res;
 
+	if (nfs_readdir_dont_search_cache(desc))
+		return -EBADCOOKIE;
+
 	do {
 		if (desc->page_index == 0) {
 			desc->current_index = 0;