diff --git a/drivers/mmc/core/mmc_ops.c b/drivers/mmc/core/mmc_ops.c
index e025604e17d4..da424dcb57ad 100644
--- a/drivers/mmc/core/mmc_ops.c
+++ b/drivers/mmc/core/mmc_ops.c
@@ -456,6 +456,7 @@ static int mmc_poll_for_busy(struct mmc_card *card, unsigned int timeout_ms,
 	struct mmc_host *host = card->host;
 	int err;
 	unsigned long timeout;
+	unsigned int udelay = 32, udelay_max = 32768;
 	u32 status = 0;
 	bool expired = false;
 	bool busy = false;
@@ -500,6 +501,13 @@ static int mmc_poll_for_busy(struct mmc_card *card, unsigned int timeout_ms,
 				mmc_hostname(host), __func__);
 			return -ETIMEDOUT;
 		}
+
+		/* Throttle the polling rate to avoid hogging the CPU. */
+		if (busy) {
+			usleep_range(udelay, udelay * 2);
+			if (udelay < udelay_max)
+				udelay *= 2;
+		}
 	} while (busy);
 
 	return 0;