diff --git a/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_si_intf.c b/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_si_intf.c
index a106cf7b5ee0..f6ba90b90503 100644
--- a/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_si_intf.c
+++ b/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_si_intf.c
@@ -284,6 +284,9 @@ struct smi_info {
 	 */
 	bool irq_enable_broken;
 
+	/* Is the driver in maintenance mode? */
+	bool in_maintenance_mode;
+
 	/*
 	 * Did we get an attention that we did not handle?
 	 */
@@ -1094,11 +1097,20 @@ static int ipmi_thread(void *data)
 		spin_unlock_irqrestore(&(smi_info->si_lock), flags);
 		busy_wait = ipmi_thread_busy_wait(smi_result, smi_info,
 						  &busy_until);
-		if (smi_result == SI_SM_CALL_WITHOUT_DELAY)
+		if (smi_result == SI_SM_CALL_WITHOUT_DELAY) {
 			; /* do nothing */
-		else if (smi_result == SI_SM_CALL_WITH_DELAY && busy_wait)
-			schedule();
-		else if (smi_result == SI_SM_IDLE) {
+		} else if (smi_result == SI_SM_CALL_WITH_DELAY && busy_wait) {
+			/*
+			 * In maintenance mode we run as fast as
+			 * possible to allow firmware updates to
+			 * complete as fast as possible, but normally
+			 * don't bang on the scheduler.
+			 */
+			if (smi_info->in_maintenance_mode)
+				schedule();
+			else
+				usleep_range(100, 200);
+		} else if (smi_result == SI_SM_IDLE) {
 			if (atomic_read(&smi_info->need_watch)) {
 				schedule_timeout_interruptible(100);
 			} else {
@@ -1106,8 +1118,9 @@ static int ipmi_thread(void *data)
 				__set_current_state(TASK_INTERRUPTIBLE);
 				schedule();
 			}
-		} else
+		} else {
 			schedule_timeout_interruptible(1);
+		}
 	}
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -1286,6 +1299,7 @@ static void set_maintenance_mode(void *send_info, bool enable)
 
 	if (!enable)
 		atomic_set(&smi_info->req_events, 0);
+	smi_info->in_maintenance_mode = enable;
 }
 
 static const struct ipmi_smi_handlers handlers = {