diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/special_insns.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/special_insns.h
index 34897e2b52c95a65db0002744132cd34aa32e0b5..0a3c4cab39db1c70aa5f0e9391ae8697a5f8b6de 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/special_insns.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/special_insns.h
@@ -121,6 +121,13 @@ static inline void wrpkru(u32 pkru)
 
 static inline void __write_pkru(u32 pkru)
 {
+	/*
+	 * WRPKRU is relatively expensive compared to RDPKRU.
+	 * Avoid WRPKRU when it would not change the value.
+	 */
+	if (pkru == rdpkru())
+		return;
+
 	wrpkru(pkru);
 }