diff --git a/include/net/netfilter/nf_tables.h b/include/net/netfilter/nf_tables.h
index 02a73037fae0..000ae2900f8c 100644
--- a/include/net/netfilter/nf_tables.h
+++ b/include/net/netfilter/nf_tables.h
@@ -1770,6 +1770,11 @@ struct nft_trans_gc {
 	struct rcu_head		rcu;
 };
 
+static inline int nft_trans_gc_space(const struct nft_trans_gc *trans)
+{
+	return NFT_TRANS_GC_BATCHCOUNT - trans->count;
+}
+
 struct nft_trans_gc *nft_trans_gc_alloc(struct nft_set *set,
 					unsigned int gc_seq, gfp_t gfp);
 void nft_trans_gc_destroy(struct nft_trans_gc *trans);
diff --git a/net/netfilter/nf_tables_api.c b/net/netfilter/nf_tables_api.c
index a3f7c7ae55b8..b411abe9743b 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/nf_tables_api.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/nf_tables_api.c
@@ -9945,11 +9945,6 @@ static void nft_trans_gc_queue_work(struct nft_trans_gc *trans)
 	schedule_work(&trans_gc_work);
 }
 
-static int nft_trans_gc_space(struct nft_trans_gc *trans)
-{
-	return NFT_TRANS_GC_BATCHCOUNT - trans->count;
-}
-
 struct nft_trans_gc *nft_trans_gc_queue_async(struct nft_trans_gc *gc,
 					      unsigned int gc_seq, gfp_t gfp)
 {
diff --git a/net/netfilter/nft_set_pipapo.c b/net/netfilter/nft_set_pipapo.c
index f4d0bb6b377d..00a13c50ec8b 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/nft_set_pipapo.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/nft_set_pipapo.c
@@ -1615,11 +1615,11 @@ static void nft_pipapo_gc_deactivate(struct net *net, struct nft_set *set,
 }
 
 /**
- * pipapo_gc() - Drop expired entries from set, destroy start and end elements
+ * pipapo_gc_scan() - Drop expired entries from set and link them to gc list
  * @set:	nftables API set representation
  * @m:		Matching data
  */
-static void pipapo_gc(struct nft_set *set, struct nft_pipapo_match *m)
+static void pipapo_gc_scan(struct nft_set *set, struct nft_pipapo_match *m)
 {
 	struct nft_pipapo *priv = nft_set_priv(set);
 	struct net *net = read_pnet(&set->net);
@@ -1632,6 +1632,8 @@ static void pipapo_gc(struct nft_set *set, struct nft_pipapo_match *m)
 	if (!gc)
 		return;
 
+	list_add(&gc->list, &priv->gc_head);
+
 	while ((rules_f0 = pipapo_rules_same_key(m->f, first_rule))) {
 		union nft_pipapo_map_bucket rulemap[NFT_PIPAPO_MAX_FIELDS];
 		const struct nft_pipapo_field *f;
@@ -1661,9 +1663,13 @@ static void pipapo_gc(struct nft_set *set, struct nft_pipapo_match *m)
 		if (__nft_set_elem_expired(&e->ext, tstamp)) {
 			priv->dirty = true;
 
-			gc = nft_trans_gc_queue_sync(gc, GFP_ATOMIC);
-			if (!gc)
-				return;
+			if (!nft_trans_gc_space(gc)) {
+				gc = nft_trans_gc_alloc(set, 0, GFP_KERNEL);
+				if (!gc)
+					return;
+
+				list_add(&gc->list, &priv->gc_head);
+			}
 
 			nft_pipapo_gc_deactivate(net, set, e);
 			pipapo_drop(m, rulemap);
@@ -1677,10 +1683,30 @@ static void pipapo_gc(struct nft_set *set, struct nft_pipapo_match *m)
 		}
 	}
 
-	gc = nft_trans_gc_catchall_sync(gc);
+	priv->last_gc = jiffies;
+}
+
+/**
+ * pipapo_gc_queue() - Free expired elements
+ * @set:	nftables API set representation
+ */
+static void pipapo_gc_queue(struct nft_set *set)
+{
+	struct nft_pipapo *priv = nft_set_priv(set);
+	struct nft_trans_gc *gc, *next;
+
+	/* always do a catchall cycle: */
+	gc = nft_trans_gc_alloc(set, 0, GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (gc) {
+		gc = nft_trans_gc_catchall_sync(gc);
+		if (gc)
+			nft_trans_gc_queue_sync_done(gc);
+	}
+
+	/* always purge queued gc elements. */
+	list_for_each_entry_safe(gc, next, &priv->gc_head, list) {
+		list_del(&gc->list);
 		nft_trans_gc_queue_sync_done(gc);
-		priv->last_gc = jiffies;
 	}
 }
 
@@ -1734,6 +1760,10 @@ static void pipapo_reclaim_match(struct rcu_head *rcu)
  *
  * We also need to create a new working copy for subsequent insertions and
  * deletions.
+ *
+ * After the live copy has been replaced by the clone, we can safely queue
+ * expired elements that have been collected by pipapo_gc_scan() for
+ * memory reclaim.
  */
 static void nft_pipapo_commit(struct nft_set *set)
 {
@@ -1741,7 +1771,7 @@ static void nft_pipapo_commit(struct nft_set *set)
 	struct nft_pipapo_match *new_clone, *old;
 
 	if (time_after_eq(jiffies, priv->last_gc + nft_set_gc_interval(set)))
-		pipapo_gc(set, priv->clone);
+		pipapo_gc_scan(set, priv->clone);
 
 	if (!priv->dirty)
 		return;
@@ -1758,6 +1788,8 @@ static void nft_pipapo_commit(struct nft_set *set)
 		call_rcu(&old->rcu, pipapo_reclaim_match);
 
 	priv->clone = new_clone;
+
+	pipapo_gc_queue(set);
 }
 
 static bool nft_pipapo_transaction_mutex_held(const struct nft_set *set)
@@ -2229,6 +2261,7 @@ static int nft_pipapo_init(const struct nft_set *set,
 
 	priv->dirty = false;
 
+	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&priv->gc_head);
 	rcu_assign_pointer(priv->match, m);
 
 	return 0;
@@ -2281,6 +2314,8 @@ static void nft_pipapo_destroy(const struct nft_ctx *ctx,
 	struct nft_pipapo_match *m;
 	int cpu;
 
+	WARN_ON_ONCE(!list_empty(&priv->gc_head));
+
 	m = rcu_dereference_protected(priv->match, true);
 	if (m) {
 		rcu_barrier();
diff --git a/net/netfilter/nft_set_pipapo.h b/net/netfilter/nft_set_pipapo.h
index aad9130cc763..743ba7c153ff 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/nft_set_pipapo.h
+++ b/net/netfilter/nft_set_pipapo.h
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ struct nft_pipapo_match {
  * @width:	Total bytes to be matched for one packet, including padding
  * @dirty:	Working copy has pending insertions or deletions
  * @last_gc:	Timestamp of last garbage collection run, jiffies
+ * @gc_head:	list of nft_trans_gc to queue up for mem reclaim
  */
 struct nft_pipapo {
 	struct nft_pipapo_match __rcu *match;
@@ -172,6 +173,7 @@ struct nft_pipapo {
 	int width;
 	bool dirty;
 	unsigned long last_gc;
+	struct list_head gc_head;
 };
 
 struct nft_pipapo_elem;