diff --git a/drivers/staging/fbtft/fbtft-core.c b/drivers/staging/fbtft/fbtft-core.c
index 1690358b8f01..52b19ec580a4 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/fbtft/fbtft-core.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/fbtft/fbtft-core.c
@@ -654,6 +654,7 @@ struct fb_info *fbtft_framebuffer_alloc(struct fbtft_display *display,
 	fbops->fb_blank     =      fbtft_fb_blank;
 
 	fbdefio->delay =           HZ / fps;
+	fbdefio->sort_pagelist =   true;
 	fbdefio->deferred_io =     fbtft_deferred_io;
 	fb_deferred_io_init(info);
 
diff --git a/drivers/video/fbdev/broadsheetfb.c b/drivers/video/fbdev/broadsheetfb.c
index fd66f4d4a621..b9054f658838 100644
--- a/drivers/video/fbdev/broadsheetfb.c
+++ b/drivers/video/fbdev/broadsheetfb.c
@@ -1059,6 +1059,7 @@ static const struct fb_ops broadsheetfb_ops = {
 
 static struct fb_deferred_io broadsheetfb_defio = {
 	.delay		= HZ/4,
+	.sort_pagelist	= true,
 	.deferred_io	= broadsheetfb_dpy_deferred_io,
 };
 
diff --git a/drivers/video/fbdev/core/fb_defio.c b/drivers/video/fbdev/core/fb_defio.c
index 95264a621221..bead69f39ffc 100644
--- a/drivers/video/fbdev/core/fb_defio.c
+++ b/drivers/video/fbdev/core/fb_defio.c
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ static vm_fault_t fb_deferred_io_mkwrite(struct vm_fault *vmf)
 	struct page *page = vmf->page;
 	struct fb_info *info = vmf->vma->vm_private_data;
 	struct fb_deferred_io *fbdefio = info->fbdefio;
-	struct page *cur;
+	struct list_head *pos = &fbdefio->pagelist;
 
 	/* this is a callback we get when userspace first tries to
 	write to the page. we schedule a workqueue. that workqueue
@@ -133,14 +133,24 @@ static vm_fault_t fb_deferred_io_mkwrite(struct vm_fault *vmf)
 	if (!list_empty(&page->lru))
 		goto page_already_added;
 
-	/* we loop through the pagelist before adding in order
-	to keep the pagelist sorted */
-	list_for_each_entry(cur, &fbdefio->pagelist, lru) {
-		if (cur->index > page->index)
-			break;
+	if (unlikely(fbdefio->sort_pagelist)) {
+		/*
+		 * We loop through the pagelist before adding in order to
+		 * keep the pagelist sorted. This has significant overhead
+		 * of O(n^2) with n being the number of written pages. If
+		 * possible, drivers should try to work with unsorted page
+		 * lists instead.
+		 */
+		struct page *cur;
+
+		list_for_each_entry(cur, &fbdefio->pagelist, lru) {
+			if (cur->index > page->index)
+				break;
+		}
+		pos = &cur->lru;
 	}
 
-	list_add_tail(&page->lru, &cur->lru);
+	list_add_tail(&page->lru, pos);
 
 page_already_added:
 	mutex_unlock(&fbdefio->lock);
diff --git a/drivers/video/fbdev/metronomefb.c b/drivers/video/fbdev/metronomefb.c
index 952826557a0c..af858dd23ea6 100644
--- a/drivers/video/fbdev/metronomefb.c
+++ b/drivers/video/fbdev/metronomefb.c
@@ -568,6 +568,7 @@ static const struct fb_ops metronomefb_ops = {
 
 static struct fb_deferred_io metronomefb_defio = {
 	.delay		= HZ,
+	.sort_pagelist	= true,
 	.deferred_io	= metronomefb_dpy_deferred_io,
 };
 
diff --git a/drivers/video/fbdev/udlfb.c b/drivers/video/fbdev/udlfb.c
index 0de7b867714a..8603898bf37e 100644
--- a/drivers/video/fbdev/udlfb.c
+++ b/drivers/video/fbdev/udlfb.c
@@ -982,6 +982,7 @@ static int dlfb_ops_open(struct fb_info *info, int user)
 
 		if (fbdefio) {
 			fbdefio->delay = DL_DEFIO_WRITE_DELAY;
+			fbdefio->sort_pagelist = true;
 			fbdefio->deferred_io = dlfb_dpy_deferred_io;
 		}
 
diff --git a/include/linux/fb.h b/include/linux/fb.h
index 3d7306c9a706..9a77ab615c36 100644
--- a/include/linux/fb.h
+++ b/include/linux/fb.h
@@ -204,6 +204,7 @@ struct fb_pixmap {
 struct fb_deferred_io {
 	/* delay between mkwrite and deferred handler */
 	unsigned long delay;
+	bool sort_pagelist; /* sort pagelist by offset */
 	struct mutex lock; /* mutex that protects the page list */
 	struct list_head pagelist; /* list of touched pages */
 	/* callback */