diff --git a/Documentation/cgroups/cgroups.txt b/Documentation/cgroups/cgroups.txt
index 93feb84444896..cdc46a501b857 100644
--- a/Documentation/cgroups/cgroups.txt
+++ b/Documentation/cgroups/cgroups.txt
@@ -476,11 +476,13 @@ cgroup->parent is still valid. (Note - can also be called for a
 newly-created cgroup if an error occurs after this subsystem's
 create() method has been called for the new cgroup).
 
-void pre_destroy(struct cgroup_subsys *ss, struct cgroup *cgrp);
+int pre_destroy(struct cgroup_subsys *ss, struct cgroup *cgrp);
 
 Called before checking the reference count on each subsystem. This may
 be useful for subsystems which have some extra references even if
-there are not tasks in the cgroup.
+there are not tasks in the cgroup. If pre_destroy() returns error code,
+rmdir() will fail with it. From this behavior, pre_destroy() can be
+called multiple times against a cgroup.
 
 int can_attach(struct cgroup_subsys *ss, struct cgroup *cgrp,
 	       struct task_struct *task)
diff --git a/include/linux/cgroup.h b/include/linux/cgroup.h
index 9a23bb0982057..7d824b80b3d78 100644
--- a/include/linux/cgroup.h
+++ b/include/linux/cgroup.h
@@ -135,6 +135,10 @@ enum {
 	CGRP_RELEASABLE,
 	/* Control Group requires release notifications to userspace */
 	CGRP_NOTIFY_ON_RELEASE,
+	/*
+	 * A thread in rmdir() is wating for this cgroup.
+	 */
+	CGRP_WAIT_ON_RMDIR,
 };
 
 struct cgroup {
@@ -360,7 +364,7 @@ int cgroup_is_descendant(const struct cgroup *cgrp, struct task_struct *task);
 struct cgroup_subsys {
 	struct cgroup_subsys_state *(*create)(struct cgroup_subsys *ss,
 						  struct cgroup *cgrp);
-	void (*pre_destroy)(struct cgroup_subsys *ss, struct cgroup *cgrp);
+	int (*pre_destroy)(struct cgroup_subsys *ss, struct cgroup *cgrp);
 	void (*destroy)(struct cgroup_subsys *ss, struct cgroup *cgrp);
 	int (*can_attach)(struct cgroup_subsys *ss,
 			  struct cgroup *cgrp, struct task_struct *tsk);
diff --git a/kernel/cgroup.c b/kernel/cgroup.c
index d3c521137425f..fc5e4a48582f6 100644
--- a/kernel/cgroup.c
+++ b/kernel/cgroup.c
@@ -622,13 +622,18 @@ static struct inode *cgroup_new_inode(mode_t mode, struct super_block *sb)
  * Call subsys's pre_destroy handler.
  * This is called before css refcnt check.
  */
-static void cgroup_call_pre_destroy(struct cgroup *cgrp)
+static int cgroup_call_pre_destroy(struct cgroup *cgrp)
 {
 	struct cgroup_subsys *ss;
+	int ret = 0;
+
 	for_each_subsys(cgrp->root, ss)
-		if (ss->pre_destroy)
-			ss->pre_destroy(ss, cgrp);
-	return;
+		if (ss->pre_destroy) {
+			ret = ss->pre_destroy(ss, cgrp);
+			if (ret)
+				break;
+		}
+	return ret;
 }
 
 static void free_cgroup_rcu(struct rcu_head *obj)
@@ -722,6 +727,22 @@ static void cgroup_d_remove_dir(struct dentry *dentry)
 	remove_dir(dentry);
 }
 
+/*
+ * A queue for waiters to do rmdir() cgroup. A tasks will sleep when
+ * cgroup->count == 0 && list_empty(&cgroup->children) && subsys has some
+ * reference to css->refcnt. In general, this refcnt is expected to goes down
+ * to zero, soon.
+ *
+ * CGRP_WAIT_ON_RMDIR flag is modified under cgroup's inode->i_mutex;
+ */
+DECLARE_WAIT_QUEUE_HEAD(cgroup_rmdir_waitq);
+
+static void cgroup_wakeup_rmdir_waiters(const struct cgroup *cgrp)
+{
+	if (unlikely(test_bit(CGRP_WAIT_ON_RMDIR, &cgrp->flags)))
+		wake_up_all(&cgroup_rmdir_waitq);
+}
+
 static int rebind_subsystems(struct cgroupfs_root *root,
 			      unsigned long final_bits)
 {
@@ -1317,6 +1338,12 @@ int cgroup_attach_task(struct cgroup *cgrp, struct task_struct *tsk)
 	set_bit(CGRP_RELEASABLE, &oldcgrp->flags);
 	synchronize_rcu();
 	put_css_set(cg);
+
+	/*
+	 * wake up rmdir() waiter. the rmdir should fail since the cgroup
+	 * is no longer empty.
+	 */
+	cgroup_wakeup_rmdir_waiters(cgrp);
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -2608,9 +2635,11 @@ static int cgroup_rmdir(struct inode *unused_dir, struct dentry *dentry)
 	struct cgroup *cgrp = dentry->d_fsdata;
 	struct dentry *d;
 	struct cgroup *parent;
+	DEFINE_WAIT(wait);
+	int ret;
 
 	/* the vfs holds both inode->i_mutex already */
-
+again:
 	mutex_lock(&cgroup_mutex);
 	if (atomic_read(&cgrp->count) != 0) {
 		mutex_unlock(&cgroup_mutex);
@@ -2626,17 +2655,39 @@ static int cgroup_rmdir(struct inode *unused_dir, struct dentry *dentry)
 	 * Call pre_destroy handlers of subsys. Notify subsystems
 	 * that rmdir() request comes.
 	 */
-	cgroup_call_pre_destroy(cgrp);
+	ret = cgroup_call_pre_destroy(cgrp);
+	if (ret)
+		return ret;
 
 	mutex_lock(&cgroup_mutex);
 	parent = cgrp->parent;
-
-	if (atomic_read(&cgrp->count)
-	    || !list_empty(&cgrp->children)
-	    || !cgroup_clear_css_refs(cgrp)) {
+	if (atomic_read(&cgrp->count) || !list_empty(&cgrp->children)) {
 		mutex_unlock(&cgroup_mutex);
 		return -EBUSY;
 	}
+	/*
+	 * css_put/get is provided for subsys to grab refcnt to css. In typical
+	 * case, subsystem has no reference after pre_destroy(). But, under
+	 * hierarchy management, some *temporal* refcnt can be hold.
+	 * To avoid returning -EBUSY to a user, waitqueue is used. If subsys
+	 * is really busy, it should return -EBUSY at pre_destroy(). wake_up
+	 * is called when css_put() is called and refcnt goes down to 0.
+	 */
+	set_bit(CGRP_WAIT_ON_RMDIR, &cgrp->flags);
+	prepare_to_wait(&cgroup_rmdir_waitq, &wait, TASK_INTERRUPTIBLE);
+
+	if (!cgroup_clear_css_refs(cgrp)) {
+		mutex_unlock(&cgroup_mutex);
+		schedule();
+		finish_wait(&cgroup_rmdir_waitq, &wait);
+		clear_bit(CGRP_WAIT_ON_RMDIR, &cgrp->flags);
+		if (signal_pending(current))
+			return -EINTR;
+		goto again;
+	}
+	/* NO css_tryget() can success after here. */
+	finish_wait(&cgroup_rmdir_waitq, &wait);
+	clear_bit(CGRP_WAIT_ON_RMDIR, &cgrp->flags);
 
 	spin_lock(&release_list_lock);
 	set_bit(CGRP_REMOVED, &cgrp->flags);
@@ -3194,10 +3245,12 @@ void __css_put(struct cgroup_subsys_state *css)
 {
 	struct cgroup *cgrp = css->cgroup;
 	rcu_read_lock();
-	if ((atomic_dec_return(&css->refcnt) == 1) &&
-	    notify_on_release(cgrp)) {
-		set_bit(CGRP_RELEASABLE, &cgrp->flags);
-		check_for_release(cgrp);
+	if (atomic_dec_return(&css->refcnt) == 1) {
+		if (notify_on_release(cgrp)) {
+			set_bit(CGRP_RELEASABLE, &cgrp->flags);
+			check_for_release(cgrp);
+		}
+		cgroup_wakeup_rmdir_waiters(cgrp);
 	}
 	rcu_read_unlock();
 }
diff --git a/mm/memcontrol.c b/mm/memcontrol.c
index 8e4be9cb2a6a7..8ffec674c5acc 100644
--- a/mm/memcontrol.c
+++ b/mm/memcontrol.c
@@ -2272,11 +2272,12 @@ mem_cgroup_create(struct cgroup_subsys *ss, struct cgroup *cont)
 	return ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM);
 }
 
-static void mem_cgroup_pre_destroy(struct cgroup_subsys *ss,
+static int mem_cgroup_pre_destroy(struct cgroup_subsys *ss,
 					struct cgroup *cont)
 {
 	struct mem_cgroup *mem = mem_cgroup_from_cont(cont);
-	mem_cgroup_force_empty(mem, false);
+
+	return mem_cgroup_force_empty(mem, false);
 }
 
 static void mem_cgroup_destroy(struct cgroup_subsys *ss,