diff --git a/arch/Kconfig b/arch/Kconfig
index e1d84c1e9f6..de365d9a26f 100644
--- a/arch/Kconfig
+++ b/arch/Kconfig
@@ -701,6 +701,17 @@ config DEMAND_PAGING_ALLOW_IRQ
 	  runs with interrupts disabled for the entire operation. However,
 	  ISRs may also page fault.
 
+config DEMAND_PAGING_PAGE_FRAMES_RESERVE
+	int "Number of page frames reserved for paging"
+	default 32 if !LINKER_GENERIC_SECTIONS_PRESENT_AT_BOOT
+	default 0
+	help
+	  This sets the number of page frames that will be reserved for
+	  paging that do not count towards free memory. This is to
+	  ensure that there are some page frames available for paging
+	  code and data. Otherwise, it would be possible to exhaust
+	  all page frames via anonymous memory mappings.
+
 config DEMAND_PAGING_STATS
 	bool "Gather Demand Paging Statistics"
 	help
diff --git a/kernel/mmu.c b/kernel/mmu.c
index 4d235858a92..cfc75dae035 100644
--- a/kernel/mmu.c
+++ b/kernel/mmu.c
@@ -624,7 +624,15 @@ size_t k_mem_free_get(void)
 	__ASSERT(page_frames_initialized, "%s called too early", __func__);
 
 	key = k_spin_lock(&z_mm_lock);
+#ifdef CONFIG_DEMAND_PAGING
+	if (z_free_page_count > CONFIG_DEMAND_PAGING_PAGE_FRAMES_RESERVE) {
+		ret = z_free_page_count - CONFIG_DEMAND_PAGING_PAGE_FRAMES_RESERVE;
+	} else {
+		ret = 0;
+	}
+#else
 	ret = z_free_page_count;
+#endif
 	k_spin_unlock(&z_mm_lock, key);
 
 	return ret * (size_t)CONFIG_MMU_PAGE_SIZE;