diff --git a/mm/userfaultfd.c b/mm/userfaultfd.c
index 405f2d72f204..669f71d485d0 100644
--- a/mm/userfaultfd.c
+++ b/mm/userfaultfd.c
@@ -1635,8 +1635,12 @@ static long move_pages_ptes(struct mm_struct *mm, pmd_t *dst_pmd, pmd_t *src_pmd
 			pte_unmap(dst_pte);
 			src_pte = dst_pte = NULL;
 			ret = split_folio(src_folio);
-			if (ret)
+			if (ret) {
+				/* do not retry, extra refs may be held forever */
+				if (ret == -EAGAIN)
+					ret = -EBUSY;
 				goto out;
+			}
 			/* have to reacquire the folio after it got split */
 			folio_unlock(src_folio);
 			folio_put(src_folio);