@@ -, +, @@ 
     (kgdb) where
     #0  sched_switch (td=0xfffff800055bf9a0, newtd=0xfffff80002341000, flags=<value optimized out>) at /usr/src/sys/kern/sched_ule.c:1969
     #1  0xffffffff80962635 in mi_switch (flags=<value optimized out>, newtd=0x0) at /usr/src/sys/kern/kern_synch.c:455
     #2  0xffffffff809aaa3a in sleepq_wait (wchan=0x0, pri=0) at /usr/src/sys/kern/subr_sleepqueue.c:637
     #3  0xffffffff80962038 in _sleep (ident=<value optimized out>, lock=<value optimized out>, priority=<value optimized out>, wmesg=0xffffffff80e826ee "vmwait", sbt=0, pr=<value optimized out>,
        flags=<value optimized out>) at /usr/src/sys/kern/kern_synch.c:229
     #4  0xffffffff80c1ac6b in vm_wait () at /usr/src/sys/vm/vm_page.c:2705
     #5  0xffffffff80c06a9f in kmem_back (object=0xffffffff8144d6f0, addr=18446741874805047296, size=69632, flags=<value optimized out>) at /usr/src/sys/vm/vm_kern.c:356
     #6  0xffffffff80c068d2 in kmem_malloc (vmem=0xffffffff813aa500, size=69632, flags=2) at /usr/src/sys/vm/vm_kern.c:316
     #7  0xffffffff80bfd7d6 in uma_large_malloc (size=69632, wait=2) at /usr/src/sys/vm/uma_core.c:1106
     #8  0xffffffff8092f614 in malloc (size=<value optimized out>, mtp=0xffffffff81b4d520, flags=0) at /usr/src/sys/kern/kern_malloc.c:513
     #9  0xffffffff81b4ab99 in g_eli_crypto_run (wr=0xfffff80002560040, bp=0xfffff80008a86d90) at /usr/src/sys/modules/geom/geom_eli/../../../geom/eli/g_eli_privacy.c:262
     #10 0xffffffff81b3e860 in g_eli_worker (arg=0xfffff80002560040) at /usr/src/sys/modules/geom/geom_eli/../../../geom/eli/g_eli.c:565
     #11 0xffffffff80910f5c in fork_exit (callout=0xffffffff81b3e0b0 <g_eli_worker>, arg=0xfffff80002560040, frame=0xfffffe005005ec00) at /usr/src/sys/kern/kern_fork.c:1034
     #12 0xffffffff80c33f0e in fork_trampoline () at /usr/src/sys/amd64/amd64/exception.S:611
     #13 0x0000000000000000 in ?? ()
     (kgdb) p vm_cnt
     $16 = {v_swtch = 0, v_trap = 0, v_syscall = 0, v_intr = 0, v_soft = 0,
      v_vm_faults = 0, v_io_faults = 0, v_cow_faults = 0, v_cow_optim = 0,
      v_zfod = 0, v_ozfod = 0, v_swapin = 0, v_swapout = 0, v_swappgsin =
      0, v_swappgsout = 0, v_vnodein = 0, v_vnodeout = 0, v_vnodepgsin =
      0, v_vnodepgsout = 0, v_intrans = 0, v_reactivated = 0, v_pdwakeups
      = 22197, v_pdpages = 0, v_tcached = 0, v_dfree = 0, v_pfree = 0,
      v_tfree = 0, v_page_size = 4096, v_page_count = 247688,
      v_free_reserved = 372, v_free_target = 5320, v_free_min = 1609,
      v_free_count = 2, v_wire_count = 140735, v_active_count = 96194,
      v_inactive_target = 7980, v_inactive_count = 10756, v_cache_count =
      0, v_pageout_free_min = 34, v_interrupt_free_min = 2, v_free_severe
      = 990, v_forks = 0, v_vforks = 0, v_rforks = 0, v_kthreads = 0,
      v_forkpages = 0, v_vforkpages = 0, v_rforkpages = 0, v_kthreadpages
      = 0, v_spare = 0xffffffff8144d5ac}
-j4 and 1 GB of RAM:
  gpt/swap-ada1.eli                                   BIO_WRITE
           value  ------------- Distribution ------------- count
          < 4096 |                                         0
            4096 |@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@             4965848
            8192 |@@@@@                                    943980
           12288 |@@                                       362668
           16384 |@                                        161485
           20480 |@                                        120939
           24576 |                                         87827
           28672 |                                         57402
           32768 |                                         40470
           36864 |                                         42243
           40960 |                                         28543
           45056 |                                         20347
           49152 |                                         15235
           53248 |                                         13450
           57344 |                                         9535
           61440 |                                         9952
           65536 |@                                        179360
           69632 |                                         0
  gpt/swap-ada1.eli                                   BIO_READ
           value  ------------- Distribution ------------- count
          < 4096 |                                         0
            4096 |@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 4645114
            8192 |                                         0
           12288 |                                         0
           16384 |                                         3446
           20480 |                                         0
---
 sys/geom/eli/g_eli.c         | 26 ++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 sys/geom/eli/g_eli.h         | 18 ++++++++++++++++++
 sys/geom/eli/g_eli_privacy.c | 35 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 3 files changed, 75 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
--- b/sys/geom/eli/g_eli.c	
+++ b/sys/geom/eli/g_eli.c	
@@ -82,6 +82,17 @@ u_int g_eli_batch = 0;
 SYSCTL_UINT(_kern_geom_eli, OID_AUTO, batch, CTLFLAG_RWTUN, &g_eli_batch, 0,
     "Use crypto operations batching");
 
+uma_zone_t g_eli_zone;
+static u_int g_eli_uma_reserve = 1;
+SYSCTL_UINT(_kern_geom_eli, OID_AUTO, uma_reserve, CTLFLAG_RDTUN,
+    &g_eli_uma_reserve, 0, "Items to pre-allocate in dedicated uma zone "
+    "and reserve for writes to onetime disks");
+
+u_int g_eli_all_writes_use_uma = 0;
+SYSCTL_UINT(_kern_geom_eli, OID_AUTO, use_uma_for_all_writes, CTLFLAG_RDTUN,
+    &g_eli_all_writes_use_uma, 0, "Use the dedicated uma zone for all writes. "
+    "May reduce write latency but also inflates memory use a bit");
+
 /*
  * Passphrase cached during boot, in order to be more user-friendly if
  * there are multiple providers using the same passphrase.
@@ -246,7 +257,12 @@ g_eli_write_done(struct bio *bp)
 	pbp->bio_inbed++;
 	if (pbp->bio_inbed < pbp->bio_children)
 		return;
-	free(pbp->bio_driver2, M_ELI);
+	sc = pbp->bio_to->geom->softc;
+	if (g_eli_all_writes_use_uma ||
+	     (sc->sc_flags & G_ELI_FLAG_ONETIME) != 0)
+		uma_zfree(g_eli_zone, pbp->bio_driver2);
+	else
+		free(pbp->bio_driver2, M_ELI);
 	pbp->bio_driver2 = NULL;
 	if (pbp->bio_error != 0) {
 		G_ELI_LOGREQ(0, pbp, "%s() failed (error=%d)", __func__,
@@ -258,7 +274,6 @@ g_eli_write_done(struct bio *bp)
 	/*
 	 * Write is finished, send it up.
 	 */
-	sc = pbp->bio_to->geom->softc;
 	g_io_deliver(pbp, pbp->bio_error);
 	if (sc != NULL)
 		atomic_subtract_int(&sc->sc_inflight, 1);
@@ -1254,6 +1269,12 @@ static void
 g_eli_init(struct g_class *mp)
 {
 
+	g_eli_zone = uma_zcreate("g_eli", ELI_ZONE_ITEM_SIZE, NULL, NULL,
+	    NULL, NULL, 0, UMA_ZONE_NOFREE);
+	/* Increase the chances that items are available when needed. */
+	uma_prealloc(g_eli_zone, g_eli_uma_reserve);
+	uma_zone_reserve(g_eli_zone, g_eli_uma_reserve);
+
 	g_eli_pre_sync = EVENTHANDLER_REGISTER(shutdown_pre_sync,
 	    g_eli_shutdown_pre_sync, mp, SHUTDOWN_PRI_FIRST);
 	if (g_eli_pre_sync == NULL)
@@ -1264,6 +1285,7 @@ static void
 g_eli_fini(struct g_class *mp)
 {
 
+	uma_zdestroy(g_eli_zone);
 	if (g_eli_pre_sync != NULL)
 		EVENTHANDLER_DEREGISTER(shutdown_pre_sync, g_eli_pre_sync);
 }
--- b/sys/geom/eli/g_eli.h	
+++ b/sys/geom/eli/g_eli.h	
@@ -139,6 +139,24 @@ 
 #define	G_ELI_CRYPTO_SW		2
 
 #ifdef _KERNEL
+/*
+ * Items in the dedicated uma zone have a fixed size and need
+ * to be big enough for all write lengths.
+ *
+ * MAXPHYS is the largest amount of data geli can receive in a row,
+ * additionally we have to account for the encryption overhead, which
+ * depends on the number of sectors.
+ *
+ * 512 bytes is the smallest sector size supported and results in the
+ * largest overhead. If larger sectors are being used, we'll just waste
+ * a bit more memory.
+ *
+ * Given that the zone does not need a lot of items, the generous
+ * item size seems tolerable for now.
+ */
+#define ELI_ZONE_ITEM_SIZE (MAXPHYS + (MAXPHYS / 512) * \
+    (sizeof(struct cryptop) + sizeof(struct cryptodesc)))
+
 extern int g_eli_debug;
 extern u_int g_eli_overwrites;
 extern u_int g_eli_batch;
--- b/sys/geom/eli/g_eli_privacy.c	
+++ b/sys/geom/eli/g_eli_privacy.c	
@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ __FBSDID("$FreeBSD$");
 #include <geom/eli/g_eli.h>
 #include <geom/eli/pkcs5v2.h>
 
+extern u_int g_eli_all_writes_use_uma;
+extern uma_zone_t g_eli_zone;
+
 /*
  * Code paths:
  * BIO_READ:
@@ -153,7 +156,11 @@ g_eli_crypto_write_done(struct cryptop *crp)
 	if (bp->bio_error != 0) {
 		G_ELI_LOGREQ(0, bp, "Crypto WRITE request failed (error=%d).",
 		    bp->bio_error);
-		free(bp->bio_driver2, M_ELI);
+		if (g_eli_all_writes_use_uma ||
+		    (sc->sc_flags & G_ELI_FLAG_ONETIME) != 0)
+			uma_zfree(g_eli_zone, bp->bio_driver2);
+		else
+			free(bp->bio_driver2, M_ELI);
 		bp->bio_driver2 = NULL;
 		g_destroy_bio(cbp);
 		g_io_deliver(bp, bp->bio_error);
@@ -259,8 +266,32 @@ g_eli_crypto_run(struct g_eli_worker *wr, struct bio *bp)
 	 */
 	if (bp->bio_cmd == BIO_WRITE)
 		size += bp->bio_length;
-	p = malloc(size, M_ELI, M_WAITOK);
 
+	if (bp->bio_cmd == BIO_WRITE &&
+	    (((sc->sc_flags & G_ELI_FLAG_ONETIME) != 0) ||
+	    g_eli_all_writes_use_uma)) {
+		int uma_flags;
+
+		KASSERT(size <= ELI_ZONE_ITEM_SIZE,
+		    ("Insufficient ELI_ZONE_ITEM_SIZE %u < %u",
+		    (unsigned)ELI_ZONE_ITEM_SIZE, (unsigned)size));
+		/*
+		 * Writes to onetime providers are likely to originate
+		 * from the page daemon, therefore we try to get the
+		 * memory a bit harder for them to prevent vm deadlocks.
+		 */
+		if ((sc->sc_flags & G_ELI_FLAG_ONETIME) != 0)
+			uma_flags = M_NOWAIT|M_USE_RESERVE;
+		else
+			uma_flags = M_WAITOK;
+
+		while (NULL == (p = uma_zalloc(g_eli_zone, uma_flags))) {
+			/* Only reachable for onetime providers */
+			pause("g_eli:uma", min(hz/1000, 1));
+		}
+	} else {
+		p = malloc(size, M_ELI, M_WAITOK);
+	}
 	bp->bio_inbed = 0;
 	bp->bio_children = nsec;
 	bp->bio_driver2 = p;
--