diff --git a/carry.c b/carry.c
index 13a03f4..af582e8 100644
--- a/carry.c
+++ b/carry.c
@@ -198,6 +198,7 @@ int reiser4_carry(carry_level * doing /* set of carry operations to be
 				       * NULL in most cases */)
 {
 	int result = 0;
+	gfp_t old_mask;
 	/* queue of new requests */
 	carry_level *todo;
 	ON_DEBUG(STORE_COUNTERS);
@@ -212,6 +213,9 @@ int reiser4_carry(carry_level * doing /* set of carry operations to be
 	done = todo + 1;
 	init_carry_level(done, doing->pool);
 
+	old_mask = get_current_context()->gfp_mask;
+	get_current_context()->gfp_mask |= __GFP_NOFAIL;
+
 	/* iterate until there is nothing more to do */
 	while (result == 0 && doing->ops_num > 0) {
 		carry_level *tmp;
@@ -271,6 +275,7 @@ int reiser4_carry(carry_level * doing /* set of carry operations to be
 		/* give other threads chance to run */
 		reiser4_preempt_point();
 	}
+	get_current_context()->gfp_mask = old_mask;
 	done_carry_level(done);
 
 	/* all counters, but x_refs should remain the same. x_refs can change