diff --git a/kernel/sched/fair.c b/kernel/sched/fair.c
index 1962e68fcf60..af23c63eca32 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/fair.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/fair.c
@@ -8509,8 +8509,18 @@ static inline void calculate_imbalance(struct lb_env *env, struct sd_lb_stats *s
 		(sds->avg_load - local->avg_load) * local->group_capacity
 	) / SCHED_CAPACITY_SCALE;
 
-	/* Boost imbalance to allow misfit task to be balanced. */
-	if (busiest->group_type == group_misfit_task) {
+	/* Boost imbalance to allow misfit task to be balanced.
+	 * Always do this if we are doing a NEWLY_IDLE balance
+	 * on the assumption that any tasks we have must not be
+	 * long-running (and hence we cannot rely upon load).
+	 * However if we are not idle, we should assume the tasks
+	 * we have are longer running and not override load-based
+	 * calculations above unless we are sure that the local
+	 * group is underutilized.
+	 */
+	if (busiest->group_type == group_misfit_task &&
+		(env->idle == CPU_NEWLY_IDLE ||
+		local->sum_nr_running < local->group_weight)) {
 		env->imbalance = max_t(long, env->imbalance,
 				       busiest->group_misfit_task_load);
 	}