writeback: replace custom worker pool implementation with unbound workqueue

Writeback implements its own worker pool - each bdi can be associated
with a worker thread which is created and destroyed dynamically.  The
worker thread for the default bdi is always present and serves as the
"forker" thread which forks off worker threads for other bdis.

there's no reason for writeback to implement its own worker pool when
using unbound workqueue instead is much simpler and more efficient.
This patch replaces custom worker pool implementation in writeback
with an unbound workqueue.

The conversion isn't too complicated but the followings are worth
mentioning.

* bdi_writeback->last_active, task and wakeup_timer are removed.
  delayed_work ->dwork is added instead.  Explicit timer handling is
  no longer necessary.  Everything works by either queueing / modding
  / flushing / canceling the delayed_work item.

* bdi_writeback_thread() becomes bdi_writeback_workfn() which runs off
  bdi_writeback->dwork.  On each execution, it processes
  bdi->work_list and reschedules itself if there are more things to
  do.

  The function also handles low-mem condition, which used to be
  handled by the forker thread.  If the function is running off a
  rescuer thread, it only writes out limited number of pages so that
  the rescuer can serve other bdis too.  This preserves the flusher
  creation failure behavior of the forker thread.

* INIT_LIST_HEAD(&bdi->bdi_list) is used to tell
  bdi_writeback_workfn() about on-going bdi unregistration so that it
  always drains work_list even if it's running off the rescuer.  Note
  that the original code was broken in this regard.  Under memory
  pressure, a bdi could finish unregistration with non-empty
  work_list.

* The default bdi is no longer special.  It now is treated the same as
  any other bdi and bdi_cap_flush_forker() is removed.

* BDI_pending is no longer used.  Removed.

* Some tracepoints become non-applicable.  The following TPs are
  removed - writeback_nothread, writeback_wake_thread,
  writeback_wake_forker_thread, writeback_thread_start,
  writeback_thread_stop.

Everything, including devices coming and going away and rescuer
operation under simulated memory pressure, seems to work fine in my
test setup.

Signed-off-by: Tejun Heo <tj@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Jan Kara <jack@suse.cz>
Cc: Jens Axboe <axboe@kernel.dk>
Cc: Fengguang Wu <fengguang.wu@intel.com>
Cc: Jeff Moyer <jmoyer@redhat.com>

fs/fs-writeback.c

@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@
 #include <linux/mm.h>
 #include <linux/pagemap.h>
 #include <linux/kthread.h>
-#include <linux/freezer.h>
 #include <linux/writeback.h>
 #include <linux/blkdev.h>
 #include <linux/backing-dev.h>
@@ -88,20 +87,6 @@ static inline struct inode *wb_inode(struct list_head *head)
 #define CREATE_TRACE_POINTS
 #include <trace/events/writeback.h>
 
-/* Wakeup flusher thread or forker thread to fork it. Requires bdi->wb_lock. */
-static void bdi_wakeup_flusher(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
-{
-	if (bdi->wb.task) {
-		wake_up_process(bdi->wb.task);
-	} else {
-		/*
-		 * The bdi thread isn't there, wake up the forker thread which
-		 * will create and run it.
-		 */
-		wake_up_process(default_backing_dev_info.wb.task);
-	}
-}
-
 static void bdi_queue_work(struct backing_dev_info *bdi,
 			   struct wb_writeback_work *work)
 {
@@ -109,10 +94,9 @@ static void bdi_queue_work(struct backing_dev_info *bdi,
 
 	spin_lock_bh(&bdi->wb_lock);
 	list_add_tail(&work->list, &bdi->work_list);
-	if (!bdi->wb.task)
-		trace_writeback_nothread(bdi, work);
-	bdi_wakeup_flusher(bdi);
 	spin_unlock_bh(&bdi->wb_lock);
+
+	mod_delayed_work(bdi_wq, &bdi->wb.dwork, 0);
 }
 
 static void
@@ -127,10 +111,8 @@ __bdi_start_writeback(struct backing_dev_info *bdi, long nr_pages,
 	 */
 	work = kzalloc(sizeof(*work), GFP_ATOMIC);
 	if (!work) {
-		if (bdi->wb.task) {
-			trace_writeback_nowork(bdi);
-			wake_up_process(bdi->wb.task);
-		}
+		trace_writeback_nowork(bdi);
+		mod_delayed_work(bdi_wq, &bdi->wb.dwork, 0);
 		return;
 	}
 
@@ -177,9 +159,7 @@ void bdi_start_background_writeback(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
 	 * writeback as soon as there is no other work to do.
 	 */
 	trace_writeback_wake_background(bdi);
-	spin_lock_bh(&bdi->wb_lock);
-	bdi_wakeup_flusher(bdi);
-	spin_unlock_bh(&bdi->wb_lock);
+	mod_delayed_work(bdi_wq, &bdi->wb.dwork, 0);
 }
 
 /*
@@ -1020,66 +1000,48 @@ long wb_do_writeback(struct bdi_writeback *wb, int force_wait)
 
 /*
  * Handle writeback of dirty data for the device backed by this bdi. Also
- * wakes up periodically and does kupdated style flushing.
+ * reschedules periodically and does kupdated style flushing.
  */
-int bdi_writeback_thread(void *data)
+void bdi_writeback_workfn(struct work_struct *work)
 {
-	struct bdi_writeback *wb = data;
+	struct bdi_writeback *wb = container_of(to_delayed_work(work),
+						struct bdi_writeback, dwork);
 	struct backing_dev_info *bdi = wb->bdi;
 	long pages_written;
 
 	current->flags |= PF_SWAPWRITE;
-	set_freezable();
-	wb->last_active = jiffies;
-
-	/*
-	 * Our parent may run at a different priority, just set us to normal
-	 */
-	set_user_nice(current, 0);
-
-	trace_writeback_thread_start(bdi);
 
-	while (!kthread_freezable_should_stop(NULL)) {
+	if (likely(!current_is_workqueue_rescuer() ||
+		   list_empty(&bdi->bdi_list))) {
 		/*
-		 * Remove own delayed wake-up timer, since we are already awake
-		 * and we'll take care of the periodic write-back.
+		 * The normal path.  Keep writing back @bdi until its
+		 * work_list is empty.  Note that this path is also taken
+		 * if @bdi is shutting down even when we're running off the
+		 * rescuer as work_list needs to be drained.
 		 */
-		del_timer(&wb->wakeup_timer);
-
-		pages_written = wb_do_writeback(wb, 0);
-
+		do {
+			pages_written = wb_do_writeback(wb, 0);
+			trace_writeback_pages_written(pages_written);
+		} while (!list_empty(&bdi->work_list));
+	} else {
+		/*
+		 * bdi_wq can't get enough workers and we're running off
+		 * the emergency worker.  Don't hog it.  Hopefully, 1024 is
+		 * enough for efficient IO.
+		 */
+		pages_written = writeback_inodes_wb(&bdi->wb, 1024,
+						    WB_REASON_FORKER_THREAD);
 		trace_writeback_pages_written(pages_written);
-
-		if (pages_written)
-			wb->last_active = jiffies;
-
-		set_current_state(TASK_INTERRUPTIBLE);
-		if (!list_empty(&bdi->work_list) || kthread_should_stop()) {
-			__set_current_state(TASK_RUNNING);
-			continue;
-		}
-
-		if (wb_has_dirty_io(wb) && dirty_writeback_interval)
-			schedule_timeout(msecs_to_jiffies(dirty_writeback_interval * 10));
-		else {
-			/*
-			 * We have nothing to do, so can go sleep without any
-			 * timeout and save power. When a work is queued or
-			 * something is made dirty - we will be woken up.
-			 */
-			schedule();
-		}
 	}
 
-	/* Flush any work that raced with us exiting */
-	if (!list_empty(&bdi->work_list))
-		wb_do_writeback(wb, 1);
+	if (!list_empty(&bdi->work_list) ||
+	    (wb_has_dirty_io(wb) && dirty_writeback_interval))
+		queue_delayed_work(bdi_wq, &wb->dwork,
+			msecs_to_jiffies(dirty_writeback_interval * 10));
 
-	trace_writeback_thread_stop(bdi);
-	return 0;
+	current->flags &= ~PF_SWAPWRITE;
 }
 
-
 /*
  * Start writeback of `nr_pages' pages.  If `nr_pages' is zero, write back
  * the whole world.

include/linux/backing-dev.h

@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 #include <linux/writeback.h>
 #include <linux/atomic.h>
 #include <linux/sysctl.h>
+#include <linux/workqueue.h>
 
 struct page;
 struct device;
@@ -27,7 +28,6 @@ struct dentry;
  * Bits in backing_dev_info.state
  */
 enum bdi_state {
-	BDI_pending,		/* On its way to being activated */
 	BDI_wb_alloc,		/* Default embedded wb allocated */
 	BDI_async_congested,	/* The async (write) queue is getting full */
 	BDI_sync_congested,	/* The sync queue is getting full */
@@ -53,10 +53,8 @@ struct bdi_writeback {
 	unsigned int nr;
 
 	unsigned long last_old_flush;	/* last old data flush */
-	unsigned long last_active;	/* last time bdi thread was active */
 
-	struct task_struct *task;	/* writeback thread */
-	struct timer_list wakeup_timer; /* used for delayed bdi thread wakeup */
+	struct delayed_work dwork;	/* work item used for writeback */
 	struct list_head b_dirty;	/* dirty inodes */
 	struct list_head b_io;		/* parked for writeback */
 	struct list_head b_more_io;	/* parked for more writeback */
@@ -123,7 +121,7 @@ int bdi_setup_and_register(struct backing_dev_info *, char *, unsigned int);
 void bdi_start_writeback(struct backing_dev_info *bdi, long nr_pages,
 			enum wb_reason reason);
 void bdi_start_background_writeback(struct backing_dev_info *bdi);
-int bdi_writeback_thread(void *data);
+void bdi_writeback_workfn(struct work_struct *work);
 int bdi_has_dirty_io(struct backing_dev_info *bdi);
 void bdi_wakeup_thread_delayed(struct backing_dev_info *bdi);
 void bdi_lock_two(struct bdi_writeback *wb1, struct bdi_writeback *wb2);
@@ -131,6 +129,8 @@ void bdi_lock_two(struct bdi_writeback *wb1, struct bdi_writeback *wb2);
 extern spinlock_t bdi_lock;
 extern struct list_head bdi_list;
 
+extern struct workqueue_struct *bdi_wq;
+
 static inline int wb_has_dirty_io(struct bdi_writeback *wb)
 {
 	return !list_empty(&wb->b_dirty) ||
@@ -335,11 +335,6 @@ static inline bool bdi_cap_swap_backed(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
 	return bdi->capabilities & BDI_CAP_SWAP_BACKED;
 }
 
-static inline bool bdi_cap_flush_forker(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
-{
-	return bdi == &default_backing_dev_info;
-}
-
 static inline bool mapping_cap_writeback_dirty(struct address_space *mapping)
 {
 	return bdi_cap_writeback_dirty(mapping->backing_dev_info);

include/trace/events/writeback.h

@@ -183,7 +183,6 @@ DECLARE_EVENT_CLASS(writeback_work_class,
 DEFINE_EVENT(writeback_work_class, name, \
 	TP_PROTO(struct backing_dev_info *bdi, struct wb_writeback_work *work), \
 	TP_ARGS(bdi, work))
-DEFINE_WRITEBACK_WORK_EVENT(writeback_nothread);
 DEFINE_WRITEBACK_WORK_EVENT(writeback_queue);
 DEFINE_WRITEBACK_WORK_EVENT(writeback_exec);
 DEFINE_WRITEBACK_WORK_EVENT(writeback_start);
@@ -222,12 +221,8 @@ DEFINE_EVENT(writeback_class, name, \
 
 DEFINE_WRITEBACK_EVENT(writeback_nowork);
 DEFINE_WRITEBACK_EVENT(writeback_wake_background);
-DEFINE_WRITEBACK_EVENT(writeback_wake_thread);
-DEFINE_WRITEBACK_EVENT(writeback_wake_forker_thread);
 DEFINE_WRITEBACK_EVENT(writeback_bdi_register);
 DEFINE_WRITEBACK_EVENT(writeback_bdi_unregister);
-DEFINE_WRITEBACK_EVENT(writeback_thread_start);
-DEFINE_WRITEBACK_EVENT(writeback_thread_stop);
 
 DECLARE_EVENT_CLASS(wbc_class,
 	TP_PROTO(struct writeback_control *wbc, struct backing_dev_info *bdi),

mm/backing-dev.c

@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ static struct class *bdi_class;
 DEFINE_SPINLOCK(bdi_lock);
 LIST_HEAD(bdi_list);
 
+/* bdi_wq serves all asynchronous writeback tasks */
+struct workqueue_struct *bdi_wq;
+
 void bdi_lock_two(struct bdi_writeback *wb1, struct bdi_writeback *wb2)
 {
 	if (wb1 < wb2) {
@@ -255,6 +258,11 @@ static int __init default_bdi_init(void)
 {
 	int err;
 
+	bdi_wq = alloc_workqueue("writeback", WQ_MEM_RECLAIM | WQ_FREEZABLE |
+					      WQ_UNBOUND, 0);
+	if (!bdi_wq)
+		return -ENOMEM;
+
 	err = bdi_init(&default_backing_dev_info);
 	if (!err)
 		bdi_register(&default_backing_dev_info, NULL, "default");
@@ -269,26 +277,6 @@ int bdi_has_dirty_io(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
 	return wb_has_dirty_io(&bdi->wb);
 }
 
-static void wakeup_timer_fn(unsigned long data)
-{
-	struct backing_dev_info *bdi = (struct backing_dev_info *)data;
-
-	spin_lock_bh(&bdi->wb_lock);
-	if (bdi->wb.task) {
-		trace_writeback_wake_thread(bdi);
-		wake_up_process(bdi->wb.task);
-	} else if (bdi->dev) {
-		/*
-		 * When bdi tasks are inactive for long time, they are killed.
-		 * In this case we have to wake-up the forker thread which
-		 * should create and run the bdi thread.
-		 */
-		trace_writeback_wake_forker_thread(bdi);
-		wake_up_process(default_backing_dev_info.wb.task);
-	}
-	spin_unlock_bh(&bdi->wb_lock);
-}
-
 /*
  * This function is used when the first inode for this bdi is marked dirty. It
  * wakes-up the corresponding bdi thread which should then take care of the
@@ -305,176 +293,7 @@ void bdi_wakeup_thread_delayed(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
 	unsigned long timeout;
 
 	timeout = msecs_to_jiffies(dirty_writeback_interval * 10);
-	mod_timer(&bdi->wb.wakeup_timer, jiffies + timeout);
-}
-
-/*
- * Calculate the longest interval (jiffies) bdi threads are allowed to be
- * inactive.
- */
-static unsigned long bdi_longest_inactive(void)
-{
-	unsigned long interval;
-
-	interval = msecs_to_jiffies(dirty_writeback_interval * 10);
-	return max(5UL * 60 * HZ, interval);
-}
-
-/*
- * Clear pending bit and wakeup anybody waiting for flusher thread creation or
- * shutdown
- */
-static void bdi_clear_pending(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
-{
-	clear_bit(BDI_pending, &bdi->state);
-	smp_mb__after_clear_bit();
-	wake_up_bit(&bdi->state, BDI_pending);
-}
-
-static int bdi_forker_thread(void *ptr)
-{
-	struct bdi_writeback *me = ptr;
-
-	current->flags |= PF_SWAPWRITE;
-	set_freezable();
-
-	/*
-	 * Our parent may run at a different priority, just set us to normal
-	 */
-	set_user_nice(current, 0);
-
-	for (;;) {
-		struct task_struct *task = NULL;
-		struct backing_dev_info *bdi;
-		enum {
-			NO_ACTION,   /* Nothing to do */
-			FORK_THREAD, /* Fork bdi thread */
-			KILL_THREAD, /* Kill inactive bdi thread */
-		} action = NO_ACTION;
-
-		/*
-		 * Temporary measure, we want to make sure we don't see
-		 * dirty data on the default backing_dev_info
-		 */
-		if (wb_has_dirty_io(me) || !list_empty(&me->bdi->work_list)) {
-			del_timer(&me->wakeup_timer);
-			wb_do_writeback(me, 0);
-		}
-
-		spin_lock_bh(&bdi_lock);
-		/*
-		 * In the following loop we are going to check whether we have
-		 * some work to do without any synchronization with tasks
-		 * waking us up to do work for them. Set the task state here
-		 * so that we don't miss wakeups after verifying conditions.
-		 */
-		set_current_state(TASK_INTERRUPTIBLE);
-
-		list_for_each_entry(bdi, &bdi_list, bdi_list) {
-			bool have_dirty_io;
-
-			if (!bdi_cap_writeback_dirty(bdi) ||
-			     bdi_cap_flush_forker(bdi))
-				continue;
-
-			WARN(!test_bit(BDI_registered, &bdi->state),
-			     "bdi %p/%s is not registered!\n", bdi, bdi->name);
-
-			have_dirty_io = !list_empty(&bdi->work_list) ||
-					wb_has_dirty_io(&bdi->wb);
-
-			/*
-			 * If the bdi has work to do, but the thread does not
-			 * exist - create it.
-			 */
-			if (!bdi->wb.task && have_dirty_io) {
-				/*
-				 * Set the pending bit - if someone will try to
-				 * unregister this bdi - it'll wait on this bit.
-				 */
-				set_bit(BDI_pending, &bdi->state);
-				action = FORK_THREAD;
-				break;
-			}
-
-			spin_lock(&bdi->wb_lock);
-
-			/*
-			 * If there is no work to do and the bdi thread was
-			 * inactive long enough - kill it. The wb_lock is taken
-			 * to make sure no-one adds more work to this bdi and
-			 * wakes the bdi thread up.
-			 */
-			if (bdi->wb.task && !have_dirty_io &&
-			    time_after(jiffies, bdi->wb.last_active +
-						bdi_longest_inactive())) {
-				task = bdi->wb.task;
-				bdi->wb.task = NULL;
-				spin_unlock(&bdi->wb_lock);
-				set_bit(BDI_pending, &bdi->state);
-				action = KILL_THREAD;
-				break;
-			}
-			spin_unlock(&bdi->wb_lock);
-		}
-		spin_unlock_bh(&bdi_lock);
-
-		/* Keep working if default bdi still has things to do */
-		if (!list_empty(&me->bdi->work_list))
-			__set_current_state(TASK_RUNNING);
-
-		switch (action) {
-		case FORK_THREAD:
-			__set_current_state(TASK_RUNNING);
-			task = kthread_create(bdi_writeback_thread, &bdi->wb,
-					      "flush-%s", dev_name(bdi->dev));
-			if (IS_ERR(task)) {
-				/*
-				 * If thread creation fails, force writeout of
-				 * the bdi from the thread. Hopefully 1024 is
-				 * large enough for efficient IO.
-				 */
-				writeback_inodes_wb(&bdi->wb, 1024,
-						    WB_REASON_FORKER_THREAD);
-			} else {
-				/*
-				 * The spinlock makes sure we do not lose
-				 * wake-ups when racing with 'bdi_queue_work()'.
-				 * And as soon as the bdi thread is visible, we
-				 * can start it.
-				 */
-				spin_lock_bh(&bdi->wb_lock);
-				bdi->wb.task = task;
-				spin_unlock_bh(&bdi->wb_lock);
-				wake_up_process(task);
-			}
-			bdi_clear_pending(bdi);
-			break;
-
-		case KILL_THREAD:
-			__set_current_state(TASK_RUNNING);
-			kthread_stop(task);
-			bdi_clear_pending(bdi);
-			break;
-
-		case NO_ACTION:
-			if (!wb_has_dirty_io(me) || !dirty_writeback_interval)
-				/*
-				 * There are no dirty data. The only thing we
-				 * should now care about is checking for
-				 * inactive bdi threads and killing them. Thus,
-				 * let's sleep for longer time, save energy and
-				 * be friendly for battery-driven devices.
-				 */
-				schedule_timeout(bdi_longest_inactive());
-			else
-				schedule_timeout(msecs_to_jiffies(dirty_writeback_interval * 10));
-			try_to_freeze();
-			break;
-		}
-	}
-
-	return 0;
+	mod_delayed_work(bdi_wq, &bdi->wb.dwork, timeout);
 }
 
 /*
@@ -487,6 +306,9 @@ static void bdi_remove_from_list(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
 	spin_unlock_bh(&bdi_lock);
 
 	synchronize_rcu_expedited();
+
+	/* bdi_list is now unused, clear it to mark @bdi dying */
+	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&bdi->bdi_list);
 }
 
 int bdi_register(struct backing_dev_info *bdi, struct device *parent,
@@ -506,20 +328,6 @@ int bdi_register(struct backing_dev_info *bdi, struct device *parent,
 
 	bdi->dev = dev;
 
-	/*
-	 * Just start the forker thread for our default backing_dev_info,
-	 * and add other bdi's to the list. They will get a thread created
-	 * on-demand when they need it.
-	 */
-	if (bdi_cap_flush_forker(bdi)) {
-		struct bdi_writeback *wb = &bdi->wb;
-
-		wb->task = kthread_run(bdi_forker_thread, wb, "bdi-%s",
-						dev_name(dev));
-		if (IS_ERR(wb->task))
-			return PTR_ERR(wb->task);
-	}
-
 	bdi_debug_register(bdi, dev_name(dev));
 	set_bit(BDI_registered, &bdi->state);
 
@@ -543,8 +351,6 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(bdi_register_dev);
  */
 static void bdi_wb_shutdown(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
 {
-	struct task_struct *task;
-
 	if (!bdi_cap_writeback_dirty(bdi))
 		return;
 
@@ -554,22 +360,20 @@ static void bdi_wb_shutdown(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
 	bdi_remove_from_list(bdi);
 
 	/*
-	 * If setup is pending, wait for that to complete first
+	 * Drain work list and shutdown the delayed_work.  At this point,
+	 * @bdi->bdi_list is empty telling bdi_Writeback_workfn() that @bdi
+	 * is dying and its work_list needs to be drained no matter what.
 	 */
-	wait_on_bit(&bdi->state, BDI_pending, bdi_sched_wait,
-			TASK_UNINTERRUPTIBLE);
+	mod_delayed_work(bdi_wq, &bdi->wb.dwork, 0);
+	flush_delayed_work(&bdi->wb.dwork);
+	WARN_ON(!list_empty(&bdi->work_list));
 
 	/*
-	 * Finally, kill the kernel thread. We don't need to be RCU
-	 * safe anymore, since the bdi is gone from visibility.
+	 * This shouldn't be necessary unless @bdi for some reason has
+	 * unflushed dirty IO after work_list is drained.  Do it anyway
+	 * just in case.
 	 */
-	spin_lock_bh(&bdi->wb_lock);
-	task = bdi->wb.task;
-	bdi->wb.task = NULL;
-	spin_unlock_bh(&bdi->wb_lock);
-
-	if (task)
-		kthread_stop(task);
+	cancel_delayed_work_sync(&bdi->wb.dwork);
 }
 
 /*
@@ -595,10 +399,8 @@ void bdi_unregister(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
 		bdi_set_min_ratio(bdi, 0);
 		trace_writeback_bdi_unregister(bdi);
 		bdi_prune_sb(bdi);
-		del_timer_sync(&bdi->wb.wakeup_timer);
 
-		if (!bdi_cap_flush_forker(bdi))
-			bdi_wb_shutdown(bdi);
+		bdi_wb_shutdown(bdi);
 		bdi_debug_unregister(bdi);
 
 		spin_lock_bh(&bdi->wb_lock);
@@ -620,7 +422,7 @@ static void bdi_wb_init(struct bdi_writeback *wb, struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&wb->b_io);
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&wb->b_more_io);
 	spin_lock_init(&wb->list_lock);
-	setup_timer(&wb->wakeup_timer, wakeup_timer_fn, (unsigned long)bdi);
+	INIT_DELAYED_WORK(&wb->dwork, bdi_writeback_workfn);
 }
 
 /*
@@ -693,12 +495,11 @@ void bdi_destroy(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
 	bdi_unregister(bdi);
 
 	/*
-	 * If bdi_unregister() had already been called earlier, the
-	 * wakeup_timer could still be armed because bdi_prune_sb()
-	 * can race with the bdi_wakeup_thread_delayed() calls from
-	 * __mark_inode_dirty().
+	 * If bdi_unregister() had already been called earlier, the dwork
+	 * could still be pending because bdi_prune_sb() can race with the
+	 * bdi_wakeup_thread_delayed() calls from __mark_inode_dirty().
 	 */
-	del_timer_sync(&bdi->wb.wakeup_timer);
+	cancel_delayed_work_sync(&bdi->wb.dwork);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < NR_BDI_STAT_ITEMS; i++)
 		percpu_counter_destroy(&bdi->bdi_stat[i]);