diff --git a/man/man5/zfs-module-parameters.5 b/man/man5/zfs-module-parameters.5
index 9c5d70de8..28c6e11d2 100644
--- a/man/man5/zfs-module-parameters.5
+++ b/man/man5/zfs-module-parameters.5
@@ -620,6 +620,17 @@ Start syncing out a transaction group if there is at least this much dirty data.
 Default value: \fB67,108,864\fR.
 .RE
 
+.sp
+.ne 2
+.na
+\fBzfs_free_max_blocks\fR (ulong)
+.ad
+.RS 12n
+Maximum number of blocks freed in a single txg.
+.sp
+Default value: \fB100,000\fR.
+.RE
+
 .sp
 .ne 2
 .na
diff --git a/module/zfs/dsl_scan.c b/module/zfs/dsl_scan.c
index 5546dad5f..eeec76f78 100644
--- a/module/zfs/dsl_scan.c
+++ b/module/zfs/dsl_scan.c
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ int zfs_no_scrub_io = B_FALSE; /* set to disable scrub i/o */
 int zfs_no_scrub_prefetch = B_FALSE; /* set to disable scrub prefetch */
 enum ddt_class zfs_scrub_ddt_class_max = DDT_CLASS_DUPLICATE;
 int dsl_scan_delay_completion = B_FALSE; /* set to delay scan completion */
+/* max number of blocks to free in a single TXG */
+ulong zfs_free_max_blocks = 100000;
 
 #define	DSL_SCAN_IS_SCRUB_RESILVER(scn) \
 	((scn)->scn_phys.scn_func == POOL_SCAN_SCRUB || \
@@ -1370,6 +1372,9 @@ dsl_scan_free_should_pause(dsl_scan_t *scn)
 	if (zfs_recover)
 		return (B_FALSE);
 
+	if (scn->scn_visited_this_txg >= zfs_free_max_blocks)
+		return (B_TRUE);
+
 	elapsed_nanosecs = gethrtime() - scn->scn_sync_start_time;
 	return (elapsed_nanosecs / NANOSEC > zfs_txg_timeout ||
 	    (NSEC2MSEC(elapsed_nanosecs) > zfs_free_min_time_ms &&
@@ -1868,4 +1873,7 @@ MODULE_PARM_DESC(zfs_no_scrub_io, "Set to disable scrub I/O");
 
 module_param(zfs_no_scrub_prefetch, int, 0644);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(zfs_no_scrub_prefetch, "Set to disable scrub prefetching");
+
+module_param(zfs_free_max_blocks, ulong, 0644);
+MODULE_PARM_DESC(zfs_free_max_blocks, "Max number of blocks freed in one txg");
 #endif