diff --git a/mm/memcontrol.c b/mm/memcontrol.c
index 6d276e1a3321..7a4bd8b9adc2 100644
--- a/mm/memcontrol.c
+++ b/mm/memcontrol.c
@@ -2297,28 +2297,41 @@ static void high_work_func(struct work_struct *work)
  #define MEMCG_DELAY_SCALING_SHIFT 14
 
 /*
- * Scheduled by try_charge() to be executed from the userland return path
- * and reclaims memory over the high limit.
+ * Get the number of jiffies that we should penalise a mischievous cgroup which
+ * is exceeding its memory.high by checking both it and its ancestors.
  */
-void mem_cgroup_handle_over_high(void)
+static unsigned long calculate_high_delay(struct mem_cgroup *memcg,
+					  unsigned int nr_pages)
 {
-	unsigned long usage, high, clamped_high;
-	unsigned long pflags;
-	unsigned long penalty_jiffies, overage;
-	unsigned int nr_pages = current->memcg_nr_pages_over_high;
-	struct mem_cgroup *memcg;
+	unsigned long penalty_jiffies;
+	u64 max_overage = 0;
 
-	if (likely(!nr_pages))
-		return;
+	do {
+		unsigned long usage, high;
+		u64 overage;
 
-	memcg = get_mem_cgroup_from_mm(current->mm);
-	reclaim_high(memcg, nr_pages, GFP_KERNEL);
-	current->memcg_nr_pages_over_high = 0;
+		usage = page_counter_read(&memcg->memory);
+		high = READ_ONCE(memcg->high);
+
+		/*
+		 * Prevent division by 0 in overage calculation by acting as if
+		 * it was a threshold of 1 page
+		 */
+		high = max(high, 1UL);
+
+		overage = usage - high;
+		overage <<= MEMCG_DELAY_PRECISION_SHIFT;
+		overage = div64_u64(overage, high);
+
+		if (overage > max_overage)
+			max_overage = overage;
+	} while ((memcg = parent_mem_cgroup(memcg)) &&
+		 !mem_cgroup_is_root(memcg));
+
+	if (!max_overage)
+		return 0;
 
 	/*
-	 * memory.high is breached and reclaim is unable to keep up. Throttle
-	 * allocators proactively to slow down excessive growth.
-	 *
 	 * We use overage compared to memory.high to calculate the number of
 	 * jiffies to sleep (penalty_jiffies). Ideally this value should be
 	 * fairly lenient on small overages, and increasingly harsh when the
@@ -2326,24 +2339,9 @@ void mem_cgroup_handle_over_high(void)
 	 * its crazy behaviour, so we exponentially increase the delay based on
 	 * overage amount.
 	 */
-
-	usage = page_counter_read(&memcg->memory);
-	high = READ_ONCE(memcg->high);
-
-	if (usage <= high)
-		goto out;
-
-	/*
-	 * Prevent division by 0 in overage calculation by acting as if it was a
-	 * threshold of 1 page
-	 */
-	clamped_high = max(high, 1UL);
-
-	overage = div64_u64((u64)(usage - high) << MEMCG_DELAY_PRECISION_SHIFT,
-			  clamped_high);
-
-	penalty_jiffies = ((u64)overage * overage * HZ)
-		>> (MEMCG_DELAY_PRECISION_SHIFT + MEMCG_DELAY_SCALING_SHIFT);
+	penalty_jiffies = max_overage * max_overage * HZ;
+	penalty_jiffies >>= MEMCG_DELAY_PRECISION_SHIFT;
+	penalty_jiffies >>= MEMCG_DELAY_SCALING_SHIFT;
 
 	/*
 	 * Factor in the task's own contribution to the overage, such that four
@@ -2360,7 +2358,32 @@ void mem_cgroup_handle_over_high(void)
 	 * application moving forwards and also permit diagnostics, albeit
 	 * extremely slowly.
 	 */
-	penalty_jiffies = min(penalty_jiffies, MEMCG_MAX_HIGH_DELAY_JIFFIES);
+	return min(penalty_jiffies, MEMCG_MAX_HIGH_DELAY_JIFFIES);
+}
+
+/*
+ * Scheduled by try_charge() to be executed from the userland return path
+ * and reclaims memory over the high limit.
+ */
+void mem_cgroup_handle_over_high(void)
+{
+	unsigned long penalty_jiffies;
+	unsigned long pflags;
+	unsigned int nr_pages = current->memcg_nr_pages_over_high;
+	struct mem_cgroup *memcg;
+
+	if (likely(!nr_pages))
+		return;
+
+	memcg = get_mem_cgroup_from_mm(current->mm);
+	reclaim_high(memcg, nr_pages, GFP_KERNEL);
+	current->memcg_nr_pages_over_high = 0;
+
+	/*
+	 * memory.high is breached and reclaim is unable to keep up. Throttle
+	 * allocators proactively to slow down excessive growth.
+	 */
+	penalty_jiffies = calculate_high_delay(memcg, nr_pages);
 
 	/*
 	 * Don't sleep if the amount of jiffies this memcg owes us is so low