diff --git a/sys/kern/subr_epoch.c b/sys/kern/subr_epoch.c
index bf5e12a2b79f..9c0a5e092abd 100644
--- a/sys/kern/subr_epoch.c
+++ b/sys/kern/subr_epoch.c
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ __FBSDID("$FreeBSD$");
 static MALLOC_DEFINE(M_EPOCH, "epoch", "epoch based reclamation");
 
 /* arbitrary --- needs benchmarking */
-#define MAX_ADAPTIVE_SPIN 5000
+#define MAX_ADAPTIVE_SPIN 1000
 
 #define EPOCH_EXITING 0x1
 #ifdef __amd64__
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ static MALLOC_DEFINE(M_EPOCH, "epoch", "epoch based reclamation");
 #define EPOCH_ALIGN CACHE_LINE_SIZE
 #endif
 
+CTASSERT(sizeof(epoch_section_t) == sizeof(ck_epoch_section_t));
 SYSCTL_NODE(_kern, OID_AUTO, epoch, CTLFLAG_RW, 0, "epoch information");
 SYSCTL_NODE(_kern_epoch, OID_AUTO, stats, CTLFLAG_RW, 0, "epoch stats");
 
@@ -308,8 +309,12 @@ epoch_enter(epoch_t epoch)
 		KASSERT(found, ("recursing on a second epoch"));
 	}
 #endif
+	if (td->td_epochnest > 1) {
+		critical_exit();
+		return;
+	}
 	sched_pin();
-	ck_epoch_begin(&eps->eps_record.er_record, NULL);
+	ck_epoch_begin(&eps->eps_record.er_record, (ck_epoch_section_t*)&td->td_epoch_section);
 	critical_exit();
 }
 
@@ -324,11 +329,15 @@ epoch_exit(epoch_t epoch)
 	MPASS(td->td_epochnest);
 	critical_enter();
 	eps = epoch->e_pcpu[curcpu];
-	sched_unpin();
-	ck_epoch_end(&eps->eps_record.er_record, NULL);
 	td->td_epochnest--;
 	if (td->td_epochnest == 0)
 		TAILQ_REMOVE(&eps->eps_record.er_tdlist, td, td_epochq);
+	else {
+		critical_exit();
+		return;
+	}
+	sched_unpin();
+	ck_epoch_end(&eps->eps_record.er_record, (ck_epoch_section_t*)&td->td_epoch_section);
 	eps->eps_record.er_gen++;
 	critical_exit();
 }
diff --git a/sys/sys/proc.h b/sys/sys/proc.h
index b0457d72d590..a5a8ae486637 100644
--- a/sys/sys/proc.h
+++ b/sys/sys/proc.h
@@ -75,6 +75,18 @@
 #endif
 
 
+/*
+ * A section object may be passed to every begin-end pair to allow for
+ * forward progress guarantees with-in prolonged active sections.
+ *
+ * We can't include ck_epoch.h so we define our own variant here and
+ * then CTASSERT that it's the same size in subr_epoch.c
+ */
+struct epoch_section {
+	unsigned int bucket;
+};
+typedef struct epoch_section epoch_section_t;
+
 /*
  * One structure allocated per session.
  *
@@ -352,6 +364,7 @@ struct thread {
 	struct proc	*td_rfppwait_p;	/* (k) The vforked child */
 	struct vm_page	**td_ma;	/* (k) uio pages held */
 	int		td_ma_cnt;	/* (k) size of *td_ma */
+	epoch_section_t td_epoch_section; /* (t) epoch section object */
 	void		*td_emuldata;	/* Emulator state data */
 	int		td_lastcpu;	/* (t) Last cpu we were on. */
 	int		td_oncpu;	/* (t) Which cpu we are on. */