current_is_w..._mem_reclaim(9)

💅 current_is_workqueue_mem_reclaim — a.k.a. the current_is_w..._mem_reclaim(9) page, bestie ✨

Okay so this is a Kernel API Manual entry, and no cap it's a lil one — but it's important so pay attention 🫶

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🌸 NAME 🌸

current_is_workqueue_mem_reclaim — literally answers the question: is %current a %WQ_MEM_RECLAIM worker? That's it. That's the whole vibe check 💅

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

bool current_is_workqueue_mem_reclaim (void );

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🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• void — no arguments, bestie. Nothing. Zero. Nada. She takes nothing and she gives you a bool 😌

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

So the whole point of this function is to determine whether current is a workqueue worker executing on a workqueue created with WQ_MEM_RECLAIM 🔥

And like… why do we care? Because this mirrors the exact condition that check_flush_dependency warns on 🚨 Flushing (or otherwise waiting on) a !WQ_MEM_RECLAIM workqueue from such a context breaks the forward-progress guarantee and can deadlock 💀 like, deadlock deadlock. Not cute. Not iconic. Genuinely bad.

So who uses this? Callers that may recurse into such a flush — the example given is NFS LOCALIO submitting into a stacked filesystem that flushes its own !WQ_MEM_RECLAIM workqueue 🦋 Those callers can use this function to decide whether they must defer the work to a !WQ_MEM_RECLAIM workqueue rather than run it inline. Defer it, don't do it inline, periodt ✨

Fr fr, if you're in that WQ_MEM_RECLAIM context and you're about to wait on a !WQ_MEM_RECLAIM workqueue — that's the deadlock pipeline. This function is your little "should I defer this?" check before you do something you regret 🙈

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⭐ RETURN ⭐

• true — yup, current is a WQ_MEM_RECLAIM worker 👑
• false — nope, it isn't 💜

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

Kernel file ./kernel/workqueue.c — and honestly she brought the whole friend group, look at this list:

for_each_pool(9), for_each_pool_worker(9), for_each_pwq(9), worker_pool_assign_id(9), unbound_effective_cpumask(9), get_work_pool(9), worker_set_flags(9), worker_clr_flags(9), worker_enter_idle(9), worker_leave_idle(9), find_worker_executing_work(9), move_linked_works(9), assign_work(9), kick_pool_pick(9), kick_pool(9), wq_worker_running(9), wq_worker_sleeping(9), wq_worker_tick(9), wq_worker_last_func(9), wq_node_nr_active(9), wq_update_node_max_active(9), get_pwq(9), put_pwq(9), put_pwq_unlocked(9), pwq_tryinc_nr_active(9), pwq_activate_first_inactive(9), unplug_oldest_pwq(9), node_activate_pending_pwq(9), pwq_dec_nr_active(9), pwq_dec_nr_in_flight(9), try_to_grab_pending(9), work_grab_pending(9), insert_work(9), queue_work_on(9), select_numa_node_cpu(9), queue_work_node(9), queue_delayed_work_on(9), mod_delayed_work_on(9), queue_rcu_work(9), worker_attach_to_pool(9), worker_detach_from_pool(9), create_worker(9), set_worker_dying(9), idle_worker_timeout(9), idle_cull_fn(9), maybe_create_worker(9), manage_workers(9), process_one_work(9), process_scheduled_works(9), worker_thread(9), rescuer_thread(9), check_flush_dependency(9), insert_wq_barrier(9), flush_workqueue_prep_pwqs(9), __flush_workqueue(9), drain_workqueue(9), flush_work(9), flush_delayed_work(9), flush_rcu_work(9), cancel_work_sync(9), cancel_delayed_work(9), cancel_delayed_work_sync(9), disable_work(9), disable_work_sync(9), enable_work(9), disable_delayed_work(9), disable_delayed_work_sync(9), enable_delayed_work(9), schedule_on_each_cpu(9), execute_in_process_context(9), free_workqueue_attrs(9), alloc_workqueue_attrs(9), init_worker_pool(9), put_unbound_pool(9), get_unbound_pool(9), wq_calc_pod_cpumask(9), apply_workqueue_attrs(9), unbound_wq_update_pwq(9), wq_adjust_max_active(9), destroy_workqueue(9), workqueue_set_max_active(9), workqueue_set_min_active(9), current_work(9), current_is_workqueue_rescuer(9), workqueue_congested(9), work_busy(9), set_worker_desc(9), print_worker_info(9), show_one_workqueue(9), show_one_worker_pool(9), show_all_workqueues(9), show_freezable_workqueues(9), rebind_workers(9), restore_unbound_workers_cpumask(9), work_on_cpu_key(9), freeze_workqueues_begin(9), freeze_workqueues_busy(9), thaw_workqueues(9), workqueue_unbound_housekeeping_update(9), workqueue_set_unbound_cpumask(9), workqueue_sysfs_register(9), workqueue_sysfs_unregister(9), workqueue_init_early(9), workqueue_init(9), llc_count_cores(9), llc_populate_cpu_shard_id(9), precompute_cache_shard_ids(9), workqueue_init_topology(9)

Like I said. The whole friend group. She knows everyone 🧚

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💖 that's the page, bestie 💖 This little icon comes to you from ./kernel, dated October 2026 — go forth and don't deadlock 🦋✨