diff --git a/fs/btrfs/file.c b/fs/btrfs/file.c
index 91a5fa814d75..19feb4cabb55 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/file.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/file.c
@@ -3716,6 +3716,7 @@ static int check_direct_read(struct btrfs_fs_info *fs_info,
 static ssize_t btrfs_direct_read(struct kiocb *iocb, struct iov_iter *to)
 {
 	struct inode *inode = file_inode(iocb->ki_filp);
+	size_t prev_left = 0;
 	ssize_t read = 0;
 	ssize_t ret;
 
@@ -3753,18 +3754,23 @@ static ssize_t btrfs_direct_read(struct kiocb *iocb, struct iov_iter *to)
 		read = ret;
 
 	if (iov_iter_count(to) > 0 && (ret == -EFAULT || ret > 0)) {
+		const size_t left = iov_iter_count(to);
+
 		/*
 		 * We have more data left to read. Try to fault in as many as
 		 * possible of the remainder pages and retry.
-		 *
-		 * Unlike for direct IO writes, in case the iov refers to the
-		 * file and range we are reading from (due to a mmap), we don't
-		 * need to worry about an infinite loop (see btrfs_direct_write())
-		 * because iomap does not invalidate pages for reads, only does
-		 * it for writes.
 		 */
-		fault_in_iov_iter_writeable(to, iov_iter_count(to));
-		goto again;
+		if (prev_left == 0 || left < prev_left) {
+			fault_in_iov_iter_writeable(to, left);
+			prev_left = left;
+			goto again;
+		}
+		/*
+		 * If we didn't make any progress since the last attempt, fallback
+		 * to a buffered read for the remainder of the range.
+		 * This is just to avoid any possibility of looping for too long.
+		 */
+		ret = read;
 	}
 	btrfs_inode_unlock(inode, BTRFS_ILOCK_SHARED);
 	return ret < 0 ? ret : read;