diff --git a/fs/ext4/mballoc.c b/fs/ext4/mballoc.c
index ad78bddfb637..110473e66286 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/mballoc.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/mballoc.c
@@ -5539,6 +5539,7 @@ ext4_fsblk_t ext4_mb_new_blocks(handle_t *handle,
 	ext4_fsblk_t block = 0;
 	unsigned int inquota = 0;
 	unsigned int reserv_clstrs = 0;
+	int retries = 0;
 	u64 seq;
 
 	might_sleep();
@@ -5641,7 +5642,8 @@ repeat:
 			ar->len = ac->ac_b_ex.fe_len;
 		}
 	} else {
-		if (ext4_mb_discard_preallocations_should_retry(sb, ac, &seq))
+		if (++retries < 3 &&
+		    ext4_mb_discard_preallocations_should_retry(sb, ac, &seq))
 			goto repeat;
 		/*
 		 * If block allocation fails then the pa allocated above