diff --git a/arch/powerpc/include/asm/book3s/64/pgtable.h b/arch/powerpc/include/asm/book3s/64/pgtable.h
index 7dede2e34b70..ccf00a8b98c6 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/include/asm/book3s/64/pgtable.h
+++ b/arch/powerpc/include/asm/book3s/64/pgtable.h
@@ -876,6 +876,23 @@ static inline int pmd_present(pmd_t pmd)
 	return false;
 }
 
+static inline int pmd_is_serializing(pmd_t pmd)
+{
+	/*
+	 * If the pmd is undergoing a split, the _PAGE_PRESENT bit is clear
+	 * and _PAGE_INVALID is set (see pmd_present, pmdp_invalidate).
+	 *
+	 * This condition may also occur when flushing a pmd while flushing
+	 * it (see ptep_modify_prot_start), so callers must ensure this
+	 * case is fine as well.
+	 */
+	if ((pmd_raw(pmd) & cpu_to_be64(_PAGE_PRESENT | _PAGE_INVALID)) ==
+						cpu_to_be64(_PAGE_INVALID))
+		return true;
+
+	return false;
+}
+
 static inline int pmd_bad(pmd_t pmd)
 {
 	if (radix_enabled())
@@ -1092,6 +1109,19 @@ static inline int pmd_protnone(pmd_t pmd)
 #define pmd_access_permitted pmd_access_permitted
 static inline bool pmd_access_permitted(pmd_t pmd, bool write)
 {
+	/*
+	 * pmdp_invalidate sets this combination (which is not caught by
+	 * !pte_present() check in pte_access_permitted), to prevent
+	 * lock-free lookups, as part of the serialize_against_pte_lookup()
+	 * synchronisation.
+	 *
+	 * This also catches the case where the PTE's hardware PRESENT bit is
+	 * cleared while TLB is flushed, which is suboptimal but should not
+	 * be frequent.
+	 */
+	if (pmd_is_serializing(pmd))
+		return false;
+
 	return pte_access_permitted(pmd_pte(pmd), write);
 }
 
diff --git a/arch/powerpc/mm/book3s64/pgtable.c b/arch/powerpc/mm/book3s64/pgtable.c
index 16bda049187a..ff98b663c83e 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/mm/book3s64/pgtable.c
+++ b/arch/powerpc/mm/book3s64/pgtable.c
@@ -116,6 +116,9 @@ pmd_t pmdp_invalidate(struct vm_area_struct *vma, unsigned long address,
 	/*
 	 * This ensures that generic code that rely on IRQ disabling
 	 * to prevent a parallel THP split work as expected.
+	 *
+	 * Marking the entry with _PAGE_INVALID && ~_PAGE_PRESENT requires
+	 * a special case check in pmd_access_permitted.
 	 */
 	serialize_against_pte_lookup(vma->vm_mm);
 	return __pmd(old_pmd);