diff --git a/mm/vmalloc.c b/mm/vmalloc.c
index 72d7f0d81c05..bea9f76ed7e7 100644
--- a/mm/vmalloc.c
+++ b/mm/vmalloc.c
@@ -1840,8 +1840,10 @@ va_alloc(struct vmap_area *va,
 
 	/* Update the free vmap_area. */
 	ret = va_clip(root, head, va, nva_start_addr, size);
-	if (WARN_ON_ONCE(ret))
+	if (ret) {
+		WARN_ON_ONCE(ret != -ENOMEM);
 		return ret;
+	}
 
 	return nva_start_addr;
 }
@@ -1914,12 +1916,9 @@ preload_this_cpu_lock(spinlock_t *lock, gfp_t gfp_mask, int node)
 
 	/*
 	 * Preload this CPU with one extra vmap_area object. It is used
-	 * when fit type of free area is NE_FIT_TYPE. It guarantees that
-	 * a CPU that does an allocation is preloaded.
-	 *
-	 * We do it in non-atomic context, thus it allows us to use more
-	 * permissive allocation masks to be more stable under low memory
-	 * condition and high memory pressure.
+	 * when fit type of free area is NE_FIT_TYPE. It is best effort
+	 * pre-loading. If it fails va_clip() may return -ENOMEM from its
+	 * GFP_NOWAIT fallback.
 	 */
 	if (!this_cpu_read(ne_fit_preload_node))
 		va = kmem_cache_alloc_node(vmap_area_cachep, gfp_mask, node);