diff --git a/drivers/md/bcache/writeback.c b/drivers/md/bcache/writeback.c
index 0b02210ab435..5767ff6c13e3 100644
--- a/drivers/md/bcache/writeback.c
+++ b/drivers/md/bcache/writeback.c
@@ -119,27 +119,61 @@ static void __update_writeback_rate(struct cached_dev *dc)
 	dc->writeback_rate_target = target;
 }
 
+static bool idle_counter_exceeded(struct cache_set *c)
+{
+	int counter, dev_nr;
+
+	/*
+	 * If c->idle_counter is overflow (idel for really long time),
+	 * reset as 0 and not set maximum rate this time for code
+	 * simplicity.
+	 */
+	counter = atomic_inc_return(&c->idle_counter);
+	if (counter <= 0) {
+		atomic_set(&c->idle_counter, 0);
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	dev_nr = atomic_read(&c->attached_dev_nr);
+	if (dev_nr == 0)
+		return false;
+
+	/*
+	 * c->idle_counter is increased by writeback thread of all
+	 * attached backing devices, in order to represent a rough
+	 * time period, counter should be divided by dev_nr.
+	 * Otherwise the idle time cannot be larger with more backing
+	 * device attached.
+	 * The following calculation equals to checking
+	 *	(counter / dev_nr) < (dev_nr * 6)
+	 */
+	if (counter < (dev_nr * dev_nr * 6))
+		return false;
+
+	return true;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Idle_counter is increased every time when update_writeback_rate() is
+ * called. If all backing devices attached to the same cache set have
+ * identical dc->writeback_rate_update_seconds values, it is about 6
+ * rounds of update_writeback_rate() on each backing device before
+ * c->at_max_writeback_rate is set to 1, and then max wrteback rate set
+ * to each dc->writeback_rate.rate.
+ * In order to avoid extra locking cost for counting exact dirty cached
+ * devices number, c->attached_dev_nr is used to calculate the idle
+ * throushold. It might be bigger if not all cached device are in write-
+ * back mode, but it still works well with limited extra rounds of
+ * update_writeback_rate().
+ */
 static bool set_at_max_writeback_rate(struct cache_set *c,
 				       struct cached_dev *dc)
 {
 	/* Don't set max writeback rate if gc is running */
 	if (!c->gc_mark_valid)
 		return false;
-	/*
-	 * Idle_counter is increased everytime when update_writeback_rate() is
-	 * called. If all backing devices attached to the same cache set have
-	 * identical dc->writeback_rate_update_seconds values, it is about 6
-	 * rounds of update_writeback_rate() on each backing device before
-	 * c->at_max_writeback_rate is set to 1, and then max wrteback rate set
-	 * to each dc->writeback_rate.rate.
-	 * In order to avoid extra locking cost for counting exact dirty cached
-	 * devices number, c->attached_dev_nr is used to calculate the idle
-	 * throushold. It might be bigger if not all cached device are in write-
-	 * back mode, but it still works well with limited extra rounds of
-	 * update_writeback_rate().
-	 */
-	if (atomic_inc_return(&c->idle_counter) <
-	    atomic_read(&c->attached_dev_nr) * 6)
+
+	if (!idle_counter_exceeded(c))
 		return false;
 
 	if (atomic_read(&c->at_max_writeback_rate) != 1)
@@ -153,13 +187,10 @@ static bool set_at_max_writeback_rate(struct cache_set *c,
 	dc->writeback_rate_change = 0;
 
 	/*
-	 * Check c->idle_counter and c->at_max_writeback_rate agagain in case
-	 * new I/O arrives during before set_at_max_writeback_rate() returns.
-	 * Then the writeback rate is set to 1, and its new value should be
-	 * decided via __update_writeback_rate().
+	 * In case new I/O arrives during before
+	 * set_at_max_writeback_rate() returns.
 	 */
-	if ((atomic_read(&c->idle_counter) <
-	     atomic_read(&c->attached_dev_nr) * 6) ||
+	if (!idle_counter_exceeded(c) ||
 	    !atomic_read(&c->at_max_writeback_rate))
 		return false;