diff --git a/drivers/net/xen-netback/common.h b/drivers/net/xen-netback/common.h
index 93ca77c129c3..c2642402b7a1 100644
--- a/drivers/net/xen-netback/common.h
+++ b/drivers/net/xen-netback/common.h
@@ -176,10 +176,9 @@ struct xenvif_queue { /* Per-queue data for xenvif */
 	char rx_irq_name[IRQ_NAME_SIZE]; /* DEVNAME-qN-rx */
 	struct xen_netif_rx_back_ring rx;
 	struct sk_buff_head rx_queue;
-	RING_IDX rx_last_skb_slots;
-	unsigned long status;
 
-	struct timer_list rx_stalled;
+	unsigned int rx_queue_max;
+	unsigned int rx_queue_len;
 
 	struct gnttab_copy grant_copy_op[MAX_GRANT_COPY_OPS];
 
@@ -199,18 +198,14 @@ struct xenvif_queue { /* Per-queue data for xenvif */
 	struct xenvif_stats stats;
 };
 
+/* Maximum number of Rx slots a to-guest packet may use, including the
+ * slot needed for GSO meta-data.
+ */
+#define XEN_NETBK_RX_SLOTS_MAX (MAX_SKB_FRAGS + 1)
+
 enum state_bit_shift {
 	/* This bit marks that the vif is connected */
 	VIF_STATUS_CONNECTED,
-	/* This bit signals the RX thread that queuing was stopped (in
-	 * start_xmit), and either the timer fired or an RX interrupt came
-	 */
-	QUEUE_STATUS_RX_PURGE_EVENT,
-	/* This bit tells the interrupt handler that this queue was the reason
-	 * for the carrier off, so it should kick the thread. Only queues which
-	 * brought it down can turn on the carrier.
-	 */
-	QUEUE_STATUS_RX_STALLED
 };
 
 struct xenvif {
@@ -246,6 +241,14 @@ struct xenvif {
 	struct net_device *dev;
 };
 
+struct xenvif_rx_cb {
+	unsigned long expires;
+	int meta_slots_used;
+	bool full_coalesce;
+};
+
+#define XENVIF_RX_CB(skb) ((struct xenvif_rx_cb *)(skb)->cb)
+
 static inline struct xenbus_device *xenvif_to_xenbus_device(struct xenvif *vif)
 {
 	return to_xenbus_device(vif->dev->dev.parent);
@@ -291,6 +294,8 @@ void xenvif_kick_thread(struct xenvif_queue *queue);
 
 int xenvif_dealloc_kthread(void *data);
 
+void xenvif_rx_queue_tail(struct xenvif_queue *queue, struct sk_buff *skb);
+
 /* Determine whether the needed number of slots (req) are available,
  * and set req_event if not.
  */
diff --git a/drivers/net/xen-netback/interface.c b/drivers/net/xen-netback/interface.c
index c6759b1ec18d..a134d52f55b4 100644
--- a/drivers/net/xen-netback/interface.c
+++ b/drivers/net/xen-netback/interface.c
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@
 #define XENVIF_QUEUE_LENGTH 32
 #define XENVIF_NAPI_WEIGHT  64
 
+/* Number of bytes allowed on the internal guest Rx queue. */
+#define XENVIF_RX_QUEUE_BYTES (XEN_NETIF_RX_RING_SIZE/2 * PAGE_SIZE)
+
 /* This function is used to set SKBTX_DEV_ZEROCOPY as well as
  * increasing the inflight counter. We need to increase the inflight
  * counter because core driver calls into xenvif_zerocopy_callback
@@ -63,7 +66,8 @@ void xenvif_skb_zerocopy_complete(struct xenvif_queue *queue)
 int xenvif_schedulable(struct xenvif *vif)
 {
 	return netif_running(vif->dev) &&
-		test_bit(VIF_STATUS_CONNECTED, &vif->status);
+		test_bit(VIF_STATUS_CONNECTED, &vif->status) &&
+		!vif->disabled;
 }
 
 static irqreturn_t xenvif_tx_interrupt(int irq, void *dev_id)
@@ -104,16 +108,7 @@ int xenvif_poll(struct napi_struct *napi, int budget)
 static irqreturn_t xenvif_rx_interrupt(int irq, void *dev_id)
 {
 	struct xenvif_queue *queue = dev_id;
-	struct netdev_queue *net_queue =
-		netdev_get_tx_queue(queue->vif->dev, queue->id);
 
-	/* QUEUE_STATUS_RX_PURGE_EVENT is only set if either QDisc was off OR
-	 * the carrier went down and this queue was previously blocked
-	 */
-	if (unlikely(netif_tx_queue_stopped(net_queue) ||
-		     (!netif_carrier_ok(queue->vif->dev) &&
-		      test_bit(QUEUE_STATUS_RX_STALLED, &queue->status))))
-		set_bit(QUEUE_STATUS_RX_PURGE_EVENT, &queue->status);
 	xenvif_kick_thread(queue);
 
 	return IRQ_HANDLED;
@@ -141,24 +136,13 @@ void xenvif_wake_queue(struct xenvif_queue *queue)
 	netif_tx_wake_queue(netdev_get_tx_queue(dev, id));
 }
 
-/* Callback to wake the queue's thread and turn the carrier off on timeout */
-static void xenvif_rx_stalled(unsigned long data)
-{
-	struct xenvif_queue *queue = (struct xenvif_queue *)data;
-
-	if (xenvif_queue_stopped(queue)) {
-		set_bit(QUEUE_STATUS_RX_PURGE_EVENT, &queue->status);
-		xenvif_kick_thread(queue);
-	}
-}
-
 static int xenvif_start_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 {
 	struct xenvif *vif = netdev_priv(dev);
 	struct xenvif_queue *queue = NULL;
 	unsigned int num_queues = vif->num_queues;
 	u16 index;
-	int min_slots_needed;
+	struct xenvif_rx_cb *cb;
 
 	BUG_ON(skb->dev != dev);
 
@@ -181,30 +165,10 @@ static int xenvif_start_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 	    !xenvif_schedulable(vif))
 		goto drop;
 
-	/* At best we'll need one slot for the header and one for each
-	 * frag.
-	 */
-	min_slots_needed = 1 + skb_shinfo(skb)->nr_frags;
+	cb = XENVIF_RX_CB(skb);
+	cb->expires = jiffies + rx_drain_timeout_jiffies;
 
-	/* If the skb is GSO then we'll also need an extra slot for the
-	 * metadata.
-	 */
-	if (skb_is_gso(skb))
-		min_slots_needed++;
-
-	/* If the skb can't possibly fit in the remaining slots
-	 * then turn off the queue to give the ring a chance to
-	 * drain.
-	 */
-	if (!xenvif_rx_ring_slots_available(queue, min_slots_needed)) {
-		queue->rx_stalled.function = xenvif_rx_stalled;
-		queue->rx_stalled.data = (unsigned long)queue;
-		netif_tx_stop_queue(netdev_get_tx_queue(dev, queue->id));
-		mod_timer(&queue->rx_stalled,
-			  jiffies + rx_drain_timeout_jiffies);
-	}
-
-	skb_queue_tail(&queue->rx_queue, skb);
+	xenvif_rx_queue_tail(queue, skb);
 	xenvif_kick_thread(queue);
 
 	return NETDEV_TX_OK;
@@ -498,6 +462,8 @@ int xenvif_init_queue(struct xenvif_queue *queue)
 	init_timer(&queue->credit_timeout);
 	queue->credit_window_start = get_jiffies_64();
 
+	queue->rx_queue_max = XENVIF_RX_QUEUE_BYTES;
+
 	skb_queue_head_init(&queue->rx_queue);
 	skb_queue_head_init(&queue->tx_queue);
 
@@ -529,8 +495,6 @@ int xenvif_init_queue(struct xenvif_queue *queue)
 		queue->grant_tx_handle[i] = NETBACK_INVALID_HANDLE;
 	}
 
-	init_timer(&queue->rx_stalled);
-
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -664,7 +628,6 @@ void xenvif_disconnect(struct xenvif *vif)
 		netif_napi_del(&queue->napi);
 
 		if (queue->task) {
-			del_timer_sync(&queue->rx_stalled);
 			kthread_stop(queue->task);
 			queue->task = NULL;
 		}
diff --git a/drivers/net/xen-netback/netback.c b/drivers/net/xen-netback/netback.c
index 08f65996534c..57aa3b507d32 100644
--- a/drivers/net/xen-netback/netback.c
+++ b/drivers/net/xen-netback/netback.c
@@ -55,8 +55,8 @@
 bool separate_tx_rx_irq = 1;
 module_param(separate_tx_rx_irq, bool, 0644);
 
-/* When guest ring is filled up, qdisc queues the packets for us, but we have
- * to timeout them, otherwise other guests' packets can get stuck there
+/* The time that packets can stay on the guest Rx internal queue
+ * before they are dropped.
  */
 unsigned int rx_drain_timeout_msecs = 10000;
 module_param(rx_drain_timeout_msecs, uint, 0444);
@@ -83,7 +83,6 @@ static void make_tx_response(struct xenvif_queue *queue,
 			     s8       st);
 
 static inline int tx_work_todo(struct xenvif_queue *queue);
-static inline int rx_work_todo(struct xenvif_queue *queue);
 
 static struct xen_netif_rx_response *make_rx_response(struct xenvif_queue *queue,
 					     u16      id,
@@ -163,6 +162,69 @@ bool xenvif_rx_ring_slots_available(struct xenvif_queue *queue, int needed)
 	return false;
 }
 
+void xenvif_rx_queue_tail(struct xenvif_queue *queue, struct sk_buff *skb)
+{
+	unsigned long flags;
+
+	spin_lock_irqsave(&queue->rx_queue.lock, flags);
+
+	__skb_queue_tail(&queue->rx_queue, skb);
+
+	queue->rx_queue_len += skb->len;
+	if (queue->rx_queue_len > queue->rx_queue_max)
+		netif_tx_stop_queue(netdev_get_tx_queue(queue->vif->dev, queue->id));
+
+	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&queue->rx_queue.lock, flags);
+}
+
+static struct sk_buff *xenvif_rx_dequeue(struct xenvif_queue *queue)
+{
+	struct sk_buff *skb;
+
+	spin_lock_irq(&queue->rx_queue.lock);
+
+	skb = __skb_dequeue(&queue->rx_queue);
+	if (skb)
+		queue->rx_queue_len -= skb->len;
+
+	spin_unlock_irq(&queue->rx_queue.lock);
+
+	return skb;
+}
+
+static void xenvif_rx_queue_maybe_wake(struct xenvif_queue *queue)
+{
+	spin_lock_irq(&queue->rx_queue.lock);
+
+	if (queue->rx_queue_len < queue->rx_queue_max)
+		netif_tx_wake_queue(netdev_get_tx_queue(queue->vif->dev, queue->id));
+
+	spin_unlock_irq(&queue->rx_queue.lock);
+}
+
+
+static void xenvif_rx_queue_purge(struct xenvif_queue *queue)
+{
+	struct sk_buff *skb;
+	while ((skb = xenvif_rx_dequeue(queue)) != NULL)
+		kfree_skb(skb);
+}
+
+static void xenvif_rx_queue_drop_expired(struct xenvif_queue *queue)
+{
+	struct sk_buff *skb;
+
+	for(;;) {
+		skb = skb_peek(&queue->rx_queue);
+		if (!skb)
+			break;
+		if (time_before(jiffies, XENVIF_RX_CB(skb)->expires))
+			break;
+		xenvif_rx_dequeue(queue);
+		kfree_skb(skb);
+	}
+}
+
 /*
  * Returns true if we should start a new receive buffer instead of
  * adding 'size' bytes to a buffer which currently contains 'offset'
@@ -237,13 +299,6 @@ static struct xenvif_rx_meta *get_next_rx_buffer(struct xenvif_queue *queue,
 	return meta;
 }
 
-struct xenvif_rx_cb {
-	int meta_slots_used;
-	bool full_coalesce;
-};
-
-#define XENVIF_RX_CB(skb) ((struct xenvif_rx_cb *)(skb)->cb)
-
 /*
  * Set up the grant operations for this fragment. If it's a flipping
  * interface, we also set up the unmap request from here.
@@ -587,7 +642,8 @@ static void xenvif_rx_action(struct xenvif_queue *queue)
 
 	skb_queue_head_init(&rxq);
 
-	while ((skb = skb_dequeue(&queue->rx_queue)) != NULL) {
+	while (xenvif_rx_ring_slots_available(queue, XEN_NETBK_RX_SLOTS_MAX)
+	       && (skb = xenvif_rx_dequeue(queue)) != NULL) {
 		RING_IDX max_slots_needed;
 		RING_IDX old_req_cons;
 		RING_IDX ring_slots_used;
@@ -634,15 +690,6 @@ static void xenvif_rx_action(struct xenvif_queue *queue)
 		    skb_shinfo(skb)->gso_type & SKB_GSO_TCPV6))
 			max_slots_needed++;
 
-		/* If the skb may not fit then bail out now */
-		if (!xenvif_rx_ring_slots_available(queue, max_slots_needed)) {
-			skb_queue_head(&queue->rx_queue, skb);
-			need_to_notify = true;
-			queue->rx_last_skb_slots = max_slots_needed;
-			break;
-		} else
-			queue->rx_last_skb_slots = 0;
-
 		old_req_cons = queue->rx.req_cons;
 		XENVIF_RX_CB(skb)->meta_slots_used = xenvif_gop_skb(skb, &npo, queue);
 		ring_slots_used = queue->rx.req_cons - old_req_cons;
@@ -1869,12 +1916,6 @@ void xenvif_idx_unmap(struct xenvif_queue *queue, u16 pending_idx)
 	}
 }
 
-static inline int rx_work_todo(struct xenvif_queue *queue)
-{
-	return (!skb_queue_empty(&queue->rx_queue) &&
-	       xenvif_rx_ring_slots_available(queue, queue->rx_last_skb_slots));
-}
-
 static inline int tx_work_todo(struct xenvif_queue *queue)
 {
 	if (likely(RING_HAS_UNCONSUMED_REQUESTS(&queue->tx)))
@@ -1931,92 +1972,64 @@ int xenvif_map_frontend_rings(struct xenvif_queue *queue,
 	return err;
 }
 
-static void xenvif_start_queue(struct xenvif_queue *queue)
+static bool xenvif_have_rx_work(struct xenvif_queue *queue)
 {
-	if (xenvif_schedulable(queue->vif))
-		xenvif_wake_queue(queue);
+	return (!skb_queue_empty(&queue->rx_queue)
+		&& xenvif_rx_ring_slots_available(queue, XEN_NETBK_RX_SLOTS_MAX))
+		|| kthread_should_stop()
+		|| queue->vif->disabled;
 }
 
-/* Only called from the queue's thread, it handles the situation when the guest
- * doesn't post enough requests on the receiving ring.
- * First xenvif_start_xmit disables QDisc and start a timer, and then either the
- * timer fires, or the guest send an interrupt after posting new request. If it
- * is the timer, the carrier is turned off here.
- * */
-static void xenvif_rx_purge_event(struct xenvif_queue *queue)
+static long xenvif_rx_queue_timeout(struct xenvif_queue *queue)
 {
-	/* Either the last unsuccesful skb or at least 1 slot should fit */
-	int needed = queue->rx_last_skb_slots ?
-		     queue->rx_last_skb_slots : 1;
+	struct sk_buff *skb;
+	long timeout;
 
-	/* It is assumed that if the guest post new slots after this, the RX
-	 * interrupt will set the QUEUE_STATUS_RX_PURGE_EVENT bit and wake up
-	 * the thread again
-	 */
-	set_bit(QUEUE_STATUS_RX_STALLED, &queue->status);
-	if (!xenvif_rx_ring_slots_available(queue, needed)) {
-		rtnl_lock();
-		if (netif_carrier_ok(queue->vif->dev)) {
-			/* Timer fired and there are still no slots. Turn off
-			 * everything except the interrupts
-			 */
-			netif_carrier_off(queue->vif->dev);
-			skb_queue_purge(&queue->rx_queue);
-			queue->rx_last_skb_slots = 0;
-			if (net_ratelimit())
-				netdev_err(queue->vif->dev, "Carrier off due to lack of guest response on queue %d\n", queue->id);
-		} else {
-			/* Probably an another queue already turned the carrier
-			 * off, make sure nothing is stucked in the internal
-			 * queue of this queue
-			 */
-			skb_queue_purge(&queue->rx_queue);
-			queue->rx_last_skb_slots = 0;
-		}
-		rtnl_unlock();
-	} else if (!netif_carrier_ok(queue->vif->dev)) {
-		unsigned int num_queues = queue->vif->num_queues;
-		unsigned int i;
-		/* The carrier was down, but an interrupt kicked
-		 * the thread again after new requests were
-		 * posted
-		 */
-		clear_bit(QUEUE_STATUS_RX_STALLED,
-			  &queue->status);
-		rtnl_lock();
-		netif_carrier_on(queue->vif->dev);
-		netif_tx_wake_all_queues(queue->vif->dev);
-		rtnl_unlock();
+	skb = skb_peek(&queue->rx_queue);
+	if (!skb)
+		return MAX_SCHEDULE_TIMEOUT;
 
-		for (i = 0; i < num_queues; i++) {
-			struct xenvif_queue *temp = &queue->vif->queues[i];
+	timeout = XENVIF_RX_CB(skb)->expires - jiffies;
+	return timeout < 0 ? 0 : timeout;
+}
 
-			xenvif_napi_schedule_or_enable_events(temp);
-		}
-		if (net_ratelimit())
-			netdev_err(queue->vif->dev, "Carrier on again\n");
-	} else {
-		/* Queuing were stopped, but the guest posted
-		 * new requests and sent an interrupt
-		 */
-		clear_bit(QUEUE_STATUS_RX_STALLED,
-			  &queue->status);
-		del_timer_sync(&queue->rx_stalled);
-		xenvif_start_queue(queue);
+/* Wait until the guest Rx thread has work.
+ *
+ * The timeout needs to be adjusted based on the current head of the
+ * queue (and not just the head at the beginning).  In particular, if
+ * the queue is initially empty an infinite timeout is used and this
+ * needs to be reduced when a skb is queued.
+ *
+ * This cannot be done with wait_event_timeout() because it only
+ * calculates the timeout once.
+ */
+static void xenvif_wait_for_rx_work(struct xenvif_queue *queue)
+{
+	DEFINE_WAIT(wait);
+
+	if (xenvif_have_rx_work(queue))
+		return;
+
+	for (;;) {
+		long ret;
+
+		prepare_to_wait(&queue->wq, &wait, TASK_INTERRUPTIBLE);
+		if (xenvif_have_rx_work(queue))
+			break;
+		ret = schedule_timeout(xenvif_rx_queue_timeout(queue));
+		if (!ret)
+			break;
 	}
+	finish_wait(&queue->wq, &wait);
 }
 
 int xenvif_kthread_guest_rx(void *data)
 {
 	struct xenvif_queue *queue = data;
-	struct sk_buff *skb;
+	struct xenvif *vif = queue->vif;
 
-	while (!kthread_should_stop()) {
-		wait_event_interruptible(queue->wq,
-					 rx_work_todo(queue) ||
-					 queue->vif->disabled ||
-					 test_bit(QUEUE_STATUS_RX_PURGE_EVENT, &queue->status) ||
-					 kthread_should_stop());
+	for (;;) {
+		xenvif_wait_for_rx_work(queue);
 
 		if (kthread_should_stop())
 			break;
@@ -2028,35 +2041,29 @@ int xenvif_kthread_guest_rx(void *data)
 		 * context so we defer it here, if this thread is
 		 * associated with queue 0.
 		 */
-		if (unlikely(queue->vif->disabled && queue->id == 0)) {
-			xenvif_carrier_off(queue->vif);
-		} else if (unlikely(queue->vif->disabled)) {
-			/* kthread_stop() would be called upon this thread soon,
-			 * be a bit proactive
-			 */
-			skb_queue_purge(&queue->rx_queue);
-			queue->rx_last_skb_slots = 0;
-		} else if (unlikely(test_and_clear_bit(QUEUE_STATUS_RX_PURGE_EVENT,
-						     &queue->status))) {
-			xenvif_rx_purge_event(queue);
-		} else if (!netif_carrier_ok(queue->vif->dev)) {
-			/* Another queue stalled and turned the carrier off, so
-			 * purge the internal queue of queues which were not
-			 * blocked
-			 */
-			skb_queue_purge(&queue->rx_queue);
-			queue->rx_last_skb_slots = 0;
+		if (unlikely(vif->disabled && queue->id == 0)) {
+			xenvif_carrier_off(vif);
+			xenvif_rx_queue_purge(queue);
+			continue;
 		}
 
 		if (!skb_queue_empty(&queue->rx_queue))
 			xenvif_rx_action(queue);
 
+		/* Queued packets may have foreign pages from other
+		 * domains.  These cannot be queued indefinitely as
+		 * this would starve guests of grant refs and transmit
+		 * slots.
+		 */
+		xenvif_rx_queue_drop_expired(queue);
+
+		xenvif_rx_queue_maybe_wake(queue);
+
 		cond_resched();
 	}
 
 	/* Bin any remaining skbs */
-	while ((skb = skb_dequeue(&queue->rx_queue)) != NULL)
-		dev_kfree_skb(skb);
+	xenvif_rx_queue_purge(queue);
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/drivers/net/xen-netback/xenbus.c b/drivers/net/xen-netback/xenbus.c
index 9060857c9022..96a754d8e517 100644
--- a/drivers/net/xen-netback/xenbus.c
+++ b/drivers/net/xen-netback/xenbus.c
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ static int xenvif_read_io_ring(struct seq_file *m, void *v)
 	struct xenvif_queue *queue = m->private;
 	struct xen_netif_tx_back_ring *tx_ring = &queue->tx;
 	struct xen_netif_rx_back_ring *rx_ring = &queue->rx;
+	struct netdev_queue *dev_queue;
 
 	if (tx_ring->sring) {
 		struct xen_netif_tx_sring *sring = tx_ring->sring;
@@ -112,6 +113,13 @@ static int xenvif_read_io_ring(struct seq_file *m, void *v)
 		   queue->credit_timeout.expires,
 		   jiffies);
 
+	dev_queue = netdev_get_tx_queue(queue->vif->dev, queue->id);
+
+	seq_printf(m, "\nRx internal queue: len %u max %u pkts %u %s\n",
+		   queue->rx_queue_len, queue->rx_queue_max,
+		   skb_queue_len(&queue->rx_queue),
+		   netif_tx_queue_stopped(dev_queue) ? "stopped" : "running");
+
 	return 0;
 }