[tip: sched/urgent] sched/fair: Fix wakeup_preempt_fair() vs delayed dequeue

From: tip-bot2 for Vincent Guittot

Date: Tue Apr 28 2026 - 03:40:19 EST


The following commit has been merged into the sched/urgent branch of tip:

Commit-ID: ac8e69e693631689d74d8f1ebee6f84f737f797f
Gitweb: https://git.kernel.org/tip/ac8e69e693631689d74d8f1ebee6f84f737f797f
Author: Vincent Guittot <vincent.guittot@xxxxxxxxxx>
AuthorDate: Wed, 22 Apr 2026 11:34:00 +02:00
Committer: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
CommitterDate: Tue, 28 Apr 2026 09:19:54 +02:00

sched/fair: Fix wakeup_preempt_fair() vs delayed dequeue

Similar to how pick_next_entity() must dequeue delayed entities, so too must
wakeup_preempt_fair(). Any delayed task being found means it is eligible and
hence past the 0-lag point, ready for removal.

Worse, by not removing delayed entities from consideration, it can skew the
preemption decision, with the end result that a short slice wakeup will not
result in a preemption.

tip/sched/core tip/sched/core +this patch
cyclictest slice (ms) (default)2.8 8 8
hackbench slice (ms) (default)2.8 20 20
Total Samples | 22559 22595 22683
Average (us) | 157 64( 59%) 59( 8%)
Median (P50) (us) | 57 57( 0%) 58(- 2%)
90th Percentile (us) | 64 60( 6%) 60( 0%)
99th Percentile (us) | 2407 67( 97%) 67( 0%)
99.9th Percentile (us) | 3400 2288( 33%) 727( 68%)
Maximum (us) | 5037 9252(-84%) 7461( 19%)

Fixes: f12e148892ed ("sched/fair: Prepare pick_next_task() for delayed dequeue")
Signed-off-by: Vincent Guittot <vincent.guittot@xxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Peter Zijlstra (Intel) <peterz@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260422093400.319251-1-vincent.guittot@xxxxxxxxxx
---
kernel/sched/fair.c | 27 ++++++++++++++-------------
1 file changed, 14 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)

diff --git a/kernel/sched/fair.c b/kernel/sched/fair.c
index 615861d..7289658 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/fair.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/fair.c
@@ -1104,7 +1104,7 @@ static inline void cancel_protect_slice(struct sched_entity *se)
*
* Which allows tree pruning through eligibility.
*/
-static struct sched_entity *__pick_eevdf(struct cfs_rq *cfs_rq, bool protect)
+static struct sched_entity *pick_eevdf(struct cfs_rq *cfs_rq, bool protect)
{
struct rb_node *node = cfs_rq->tasks_timeline.rb_root.rb_node;
struct sched_entity *se = __pick_first_entity(cfs_rq);
@@ -1175,11 +1175,6 @@ found:
return best;
}

-static struct sched_entity *pick_eevdf(struct cfs_rq *cfs_rq)
-{
- return __pick_eevdf(cfs_rq, true);
-}
-
struct sched_entity *__pick_last_entity(struct cfs_rq *cfs_rq)
{
struct rb_node *last = rb_last(&cfs_rq->tasks_timeline.rb_root);
@@ -5754,11 +5749,11 @@ static int dequeue_entities(struct rq *rq, struct sched_entity *se, int flags);
* 4) do not run the "skip" process, if something else is available
*/
static struct sched_entity *
-pick_next_entity(struct rq *rq, struct cfs_rq *cfs_rq)
+pick_next_entity(struct rq *rq, struct cfs_rq *cfs_rq, bool protect)
{
struct sched_entity *se;

- se = pick_eevdf(cfs_rq);
+ se = pick_eevdf(cfs_rq, protect);
if (se->sched_delayed) {
dequeue_entities(rq, se, DEQUEUE_SLEEP | DEQUEUE_DELAYED);
/*
@@ -9032,7 +9027,7 @@ static void wakeup_preempt_fair(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *p, int wake_f
{
enum preempt_wakeup_action preempt_action = PREEMPT_WAKEUP_PICK;
struct task_struct *donor = rq->donor;
- struct sched_entity *se = &donor->se, *pse = &p->se;
+ struct sched_entity *nse, *se = &donor->se, *pse = &p->se;
struct cfs_rq *cfs_rq = task_cfs_rq(donor);
int cse_is_idle, pse_is_idle;

@@ -9143,11 +9138,17 @@ static void wakeup_preempt_fair(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *p, int wake_f
}

pick:
+ nse = pick_next_entity(rq, cfs_rq, preempt_action != PREEMPT_WAKEUP_SHORT);
+ /* If @p has become the most eligible task, force preemption */
+ if (nse == pse)
+ goto preempt;
+
/*
- * If @p has become the most eligible task, force preemption.
+ * Because p is enqueued, nse being null can only mean that we
+ * dequeued a delayed task.
*/
- if (__pick_eevdf(cfs_rq, preempt_action != PREEMPT_WAKEUP_SHORT) == pse)
- goto preempt;
+ if (!nse)
+ goto pick;

if (sched_feat(RUN_TO_PARITY))
update_protect_slice(cfs_rq, se);
@@ -9184,7 +9185,7 @@ again:

throttled |= check_cfs_rq_runtime(cfs_rq);

- se = pick_next_entity(rq, cfs_rq);
+ se = pick_next_entity(rq, cfs_rq, true);
if (!se)
goto again;
cfs_rq = group_cfs_rq(se);