diff --git a/block/cfq-iosched.c b/block/cfq-iosched.c
index e91093d0c0eb..baf0b706169d 100644
--- a/block/cfq-iosched.c
+++ b/block/cfq-iosched.c
@@ -3751,7 +3751,7 @@ cfq_get_queue(struct cfq_data *cfqd, bool is_sync, struct cfq_io_cq *cic,
 	/*
 	 * pin the queue now that it's allocated, scheduler exit will prune it
 	 */
-	if (!is_sync) {
+	if (!is_sync && cfqq != &cfqd->oom_cfqq) {
 		cfqq->ref++;
 		*async_cfqq = cfqq;
 	}