diff --git a/mm/shmem.c b/mm/shmem.c
index 404e53bb2127..253d205914ba 100644
--- a/mm/shmem.c
+++ b/mm/shmem.c
@@ -915,6 +915,21 @@ static int shmem_writepage(struct page *page, struct writeback_control *wbc)
 	struct inode *inode;
 
 	BUG_ON(!PageLocked(page));
+	/*
+	 * shmem_backing_dev_info's capabilities prevent regular writeback or
+	 * sync from ever calling shmem_writepage; but a stacking filesystem
+	 * may use the ->writepage of its underlying filesystem, in which case
+	 * we want to do nothing when that underlying filesystem is tmpfs
+	 * (writing out to swap is useful as a response to memory pressure, but
+	 * of no use to stabilize the data) - just redirty the page, unlock it
+	 * and claim success in this case.  AOP_WRITEPAGE_ACTIVATE, and the
+	 * page_mapped check below, must be avoided unless we're in reclaim.
+	 */
+	if (!wbc->for_reclaim) {
+		set_page_dirty(page);
+		unlock_page(page);
+		return 0;
+	}
 	BUG_ON(page_mapped(page));
 
 	mapping = page->mapping;