diff --git a/mm/shmem.c b/mm/shmem.c
index 7162c58355b1..5e2ff592e3b8 100644
--- a/mm/shmem.c
+++ b/mm/shmem.c
@@ -2486,6 +2486,7 @@ static int shmem_remount_fs(struct super_block *sb, int *flags, char *data)
 	unsigned long inodes;
 	int error = -EINVAL;
 
+	config.mpol = NULL;
 	if (shmem_parse_options(data, &config, true))
 		return error;
 
@@ -2510,8 +2511,13 @@ static int shmem_remount_fs(struct super_block *sb, int *flags, char *data)
 	sbinfo->max_inodes  = config.max_inodes;
 	sbinfo->free_inodes = config.max_inodes - inodes;
 
-	mpol_put(sbinfo->mpol);
-	sbinfo->mpol        = config.mpol;	/* transfers initial ref */
+	/*
+	 * Preserve previous mempolicy unless mpol remount option was specified.
+	 */
+	if (config.mpol) {
+		mpol_put(sbinfo->mpol);
+		sbinfo->mpol = config.mpol;	/* transfers initial ref */
+	}
 out:
 	spin_unlock(&sbinfo->stat_lock);
 	return error;