diff --git a/mm/cma.c b/mm/cma.c
index 62a5dccc3fb8..c30a6edee65c 100644
--- a/mm/cma.c
+++ b/mm/cma.c
@@ -253,23 +253,24 @@ int __init cma_declare_contiguous(phys_addr_t base,
 		return -EINVAL;
 
 	/*
-	 * adjust limit to avoid crossing low/high memory boundary for
-	 * automatically allocated regions
+	 * If allocating at a fixed base the request region must not cross the
+	 * low/high memory boundary.
 	 */
-	if (((limit == 0 || limit > memblock_end) &&
-	     (memblock_end - size < highmem_start &&
-	      memblock_end > highmem_start)) ||
-	    (!fixed && limit > highmem_start && limit - size < highmem_start)) {
-		limit = highmem_start;
-	}
-
-	if (fixed && base < highmem_start && base+size > highmem_start) {
+	if (fixed && base < highmem_start && base + size > highmem_start) {
 		ret = -EINVAL;
 		pr_err("Region at %08lx defined on low/high memory boundary (%08lx)\n",
 			(unsigned long)base, (unsigned long)highmem_start);
 		goto err;
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * If the limit is unspecified or above the memblock end, its effective
+	 * value will be the memblock end. Set it explicitly to simplify further
+	 * checks.
+	 */
+	if (limit == 0 || limit > memblock_end)
+		limit = memblock_end;
+
 	/* Reserve memory */
 	if (fixed) {
 		if (memblock_is_region_reserved(base, size) ||
@@ -278,14 +279,30 @@ int __init cma_declare_contiguous(phys_addr_t base,
 			goto err;
 		}
 	} else {
-		phys_addr_t addr = memblock_alloc_range(size, alignment, base,
-							limit);
-		if (!addr) {
-			ret = -ENOMEM;
-			goto err;
-		} else {
-			base = addr;
+		phys_addr_t addr = 0;
+
+		/*
+		 * All pages in the reserved area must come from the same zone.
+		 * If the requested region crosses the low/high memory boundary,
+		 * try allocating from high memory first and fall back to low
+		 * memory in case of failure.
+		 */
+		if (base < highmem_start && limit > highmem_start) {
+			addr = memblock_alloc_range(size, alignment,
+						    highmem_start, limit);
+			limit = highmem_start;
 		}
+
+		if (!addr) {
+			addr = memblock_alloc_range(size, alignment, base,
+						    limit);
+			if (!addr) {
+				ret = -ENOMEM;
+				goto err;
+			}
+		}
+
+		base = addr;
 	}
 
 	ret = cma_init_reserved_mem(base, size, order_per_bit, res_cma);