diff --git a/kernel/sys.c b/kernel/sys.c
index a101ba3..dd948a1 100644
--- a/kernel/sys.c
+++ b/kernel/sys.c
@@ -621,11 +621,18 @@
 	if (!new_user)
 		return -EAGAIN;
 
+	/*
+	 * We don't fail in case of NPROC limit excess here because too many
+	 * poorly written programs don't check set*uid() return code, assuming
+	 * it never fails if called by root.  We may still enforce NPROC limit
+	 * for programs doing set*uid()+execve() by harmlessly deferring the
+	 * failure to the execve() stage.
+	 */
 	if (atomic_read(&new_user->processes) >= rlimit(RLIMIT_NPROC) &&
-			new_user != INIT_USER) {
-		free_uid(new_user);
-		return -EAGAIN;
-	}
+			new_user != INIT_USER)
+		current->flags |= PF_NPROC_EXCEEDED;
+	else
+		current->flags &= ~PF_NPROC_EXCEEDED;
 
 	free_uid(new->user);
 	new->user = new_user;