diff --git a/module/nvpair/nvpair_alloc_spl.c b/module/nvpair/nvpair_alloc_spl.c
index f9055b94f..bc377ab66 100644
--- a/module/nvpair/nvpair_alloc_spl.c
+++ b/module/nvpair/nvpair_alloc_spl.c
@@ -26,17 +26,18 @@
 
 #include <sys/nvpair.h>
 #include <sys/kmem.h>
+#include <sys/vmem.h>
 
 static void *
 nv_alloc_sleep_spl(nv_alloc_t *nva, size_t size)
 {
-	return (kmem_alloc(size, KM_SLEEP));
+	return (vmem_alloc(size, KM_SLEEP));
 }
 
 static void *
 nv_alloc_pushpage_spl(nv_alloc_t *nva, size_t size)
 {
-	return (kmem_alloc(size, KM_PUSHPAGE));
+	return (vmem_alloc(size, KM_PUSHPAGE));
 }
 
 static void *
diff --git a/module/zfs/spa.c b/module/zfs/spa.c
index 55bcf43f8..861a319af 100644
--- a/module/zfs/spa.c
+++ b/module/zfs/spa.c
@@ -1586,12 +1586,12 @@ load_nvlist(spa_t *spa, uint64_t obj, nvlist_t **value)
 	nvsize = *(uint64_t *)db->db_data;
 	dmu_buf_rele(db, FTAG);
 
-	packed = kmem_alloc(nvsize, KM_SLEEP);
+	packed = vmem_alloc(nvsize, KM_SLEEP);
 	error = dmu_read(spa->spa_meta_objset, obj, 0, nvsize, packed,
 	    DMU_READ_PREFETCH);
 	if (error == 0)
 		error = nvlist_unpack(packed, nvsize, value, 0);
-	kmem_free(packed, nvsize);
+	vmem_free(packed, nvsize);
 
 	return (error);
 }
diff --git a/module/zfs/zfs_ioctl.c b/module/zfs/zfs_ioctl.c
index 5b9c8f17b..171e08c7a 100644
--- a/module/zfs/zfs_ioctl.c
+++ b/module/zfs/zfs_ioctl.c
@@ -1328,20 +1328,20 @@ get_nvlist(uint64_t nvl, uint64_t size, int iflag, nvlist_t **nvp)
 	if (size == 0)
 		return (SET_ERROR(EINVAL));
 
-	packed = kmem_alloc(size, KM_SLEEP);
+	packed = vmem_alloc(size, KM_SLEEP);
 
 	if ((error = ddi_copyin((void *)(uintptr_t)nvl, packed, size,
 	    iflag)) != 0) {
-		kmem_free(packed, size);
+		vmem_free(packed, size);
 		return (error);
 	}
 
 	if ((error = nvlist_unpack(packed, size, &list, 0)) != 0) {
-		kmem_free(packed, size);
+		vmem_free(packed, size);
 		return (error);
 	}
 
-	kmem_free(packed, size);
+	vmem_free(packed, size);
 
 	*nvp = list;
 	return (0);