diff --git a/fs/cifs/transport.c b/fs/cifs/transport.c
index 520397a09616..b42050c68e6c 100644
--- a/fs/cifs/transport.c
+++ b/fs/cifs/transport.c
@@ -1007,15 +1007,40 @@ cifs_cancelled_callback(struct mid_q_entry *mid)
 struct TCP_Server_Info *cifs_pick_channel(struct cifs_ses *ses)
 {
 	uint index = 0;
+	unsigned int min_in_flight = UINT_MAX, max_in_flight = 0;
+	struct TCP_Server_Info *server = NULL;
+	int i;
 
 	if (!ses)
 		return NULL;
 
-	/* round robin */
-	index = (uint)atomic_inc_return(&ses->chan_seq);
-
 	spin_lock(&ses->chan_lock);
-	index %= ses->chan_count;
+	for (i = 0; i < ses->chan_count; i++) {
+		server = ses->chans[i].server;
+		if (!server)
+			continue;
+
+		/*
+		 * strictly speaking, we should pick up req_lock to read
+		 * server->in_flight. But it shouldn't matter much here if we
+		 * race while reading this data. The worst that can happen is
+		 * that we could use a channel that's not least loaded. Avoiding
+		 * taking the lock could help reduce wait time, which is
+		 * important for this function
+		 */
+		if (server->in_flight < min_in_flight) {
+			min_in_flight = server->in_flight;
+			index = i;
+		}
+		if (server->in_flight > max_in_flight)
+			max_in_flight = server->in_flight;
+	}
+
+	/* if all channels are equally loaded, fall back to round-robin */
+	if (min_in_flight == max_in_flight) {
+		index = (uint)atomic_inc_return(&ses->chan_seq);
+		index %= ses->chan_count;
+	}
 	spin_unlock(&ses->chan_lock);
 
 	return ses->chans[index].server;