diff --git a/mm/shrinker.c b/mm/shrinker.c
index 0f90d63afdeb..c23086bccf4d 100644
--- a/mm/shrinker.c
+++ b/mm/shrinker.c
@@ -219,6 +219,8 @@ static int shrinker_memcg_alloc(struct shrinker *shrinker)
 
 	if (mem_cgroup_disabled())
 		return -ENOSYS;
+	if (mem_cgroup_kmem_disabled() && !(shrinker->flags & SHRINKER_NONSLAB))
+		return -ENOSYS;
 
 	mutex_lock(&shrinker_mutex);
 	id = idr_alloc(&shrinker_idr, shrinker, 0, 0, GFP_KERNEL);
@@ -721,6 +723,7 @@ struct shrinker *shrinker_alloc(unsigned int flags, const char *fmt, ...)
 	 *  - non-memcg-aware shrinkers
 	 *  - !CONFIG_MEMCG
 	 *  - memcg is disabled by kernel command line
+	 *  - non-slab shrinkers: when memcg kmem is disabled
 	 */
 	size = sizeof(*shrinker->nr_deferred);
 	if (flags & SHRINKER_NUMA_AWARE)