diff --git a/kernel/include/mmu.h b/kernel/include/mmu.h
index 00d9579d04c..003d1d6062e 100644
--- a/kernel/include/mmu.h
+++ b/kernel/include/mmu.h
@@ -268,14 +268,21 @@ void z_eviction_init(void);
  * may simply generate location tokens purely as a function of pf->addr with no
  * other management necessary.
  *
+ * This function distinguishes whether it was called on behalf of a page
+ * fault. A free backing store location must always be reserved in order for
+ * page faults to succeed. If the page_fault parameter is not set, this
+ * function should return -ENOMEM even if one location is available.
+ *
  * This function is invoked with interrupts locked.
  *
  * @param addr Virtual address to obtain a storage location
  * @param [out] location storage location token
+ * @param page_fault Whether this request was for a page fault
  * @return 0 Success
  * @return -ENOMEM Backing store is full
  */
-int z_backing_store_location_get(struct z_page_frame *pf, uintptr_t *location);
+int z_backing_store_location_get(struct z_page_frame *pf, uintptr_t *location,
+				 bool page_fault);
 
 /**
  * Free a backing store location
diff --git a/kernel/mmu.c b/kernel/mmu.c
index 15defbfd959..404203e260c 100644
--- a/kernel/mmu.c
+++ b/kernel/mmu.c
@@ -607,7 +607,7 @@ static void page_frame_free_locked(struct z_page_frame *pf)
  * Returns -ENOMEM if the backing store is full
  */
 static int page_frame_prepare_locked(struct z_page_frame *pf, bool *dirty_ptr,
-				     bool page_in, uintptr_t *location_ptr)
+				     bool page_fault, uintptr_t *location_ptr)
 {
 	uintptr_t phys;
 	int ret;
@@ -632,12 +632,13 @@ static int page_frame_prepare_locked(struct z_page_frame *pf, bool *dirty_ptr,
 		dirty = dirty || !z_page_frame_is_backed(pf);
 	}
 
-	if (dirty || page_in) {
+	if (dirty || page_fault) {
 		arch_mem_scratch(phys);
 	}
 
 	if (z_page_frame_is_mapped(pf)) {
-		ret = z_backing_store_location_get(pf, location_ptr);
+		ret = z_backing_store_location_get(pf, location_ptr,
+						   page_fault);
 		if (ret != 0) {
 			LOG_ERR("out of backing store memory");
 			return -ENOMEM;
diff --git a/subsys/demand_paging/backing_store/ram.c b/subsys/demand_paging/backing_store/ram.c
index b2744cbde0c..fd324396ff0 100644
--- a/subsys/demand_paging/backing_store/ram.c
+++ b/subsys/demand_paging/backing_store/ram.c
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
 static char backing_store[CONFIG_MMU_PAGE_SIZE *
 			  CONFIG_BACKING_STORE_RAM_PAGES];
 static struct k_mem_slab backing_slabs;
+static unsigned int free_slabs;
 
 static void *location_to_slab(uintptr_t location)
 {
@@ -78,17 +79,21 @@ static uintptr_t slab_to_location(void *slab)
 	return offset;
 }
 
-int z_backing_store_location_get(struct z_page_frame *pf,
-				 uintptr_t *location)
+int z_backing_store_location_get(struct z_page_frame *pf, uintptr_t *location,
+				 bool page_fault)
 {
 	int ret;
 	void *slab;
 
-	ret = k_mem_slab_alloc(&backing_slabs, &slab, K_NO_WAIT);
-	if (ret != 0) {
+	if ((!page_fault && free_slabs == 1) || free_slabs == 0) {
 		return -ENOMEM;
 	}
+
+	ret = k_mem_slab_alloc(&backing_slabs, &slab, K_NO_WAIT);
+	__ASSERT(ret == 0, "slab count mismatch");
+	(void)ret;
 	*location = slab_to_location(slab);
+	free_slabs--;
 
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -98,6 +103,7 @@ void z_backing_store_location_free(uintptr_t location)
 	void *slab = location_to_slab(location);
 
 	k_mem_slab_free(&backing_slabs, &slab);
+	free_slabs++;
 }
 
 void z_backing_store_page_out(uintptr_t location)
@@ -121,4 +127,5 @@ void z_backing_store_init(void)
 {
 	k_mem_slab_init(&backing_slabs, backing_store, CONFIG_MMU_PAGE_SIZE,
 			CONFIG_BACKING_STORE_RAM_PAGES);
+	free_slabs = CONFIG_BACKING_STORE_RAM_PAGES;
 }
diff --git a/tests/kernel/mem_protect/demand_paging/src/main.c b/tests/kernel/mem_protect/demand_paging/src/main.c
index 7a267d6e739..547eff3452a 100644
--- a/tests/kernel/mem_protect/demand_paging/src/main.c
+++ b/tests/kernel/mem_protect/demand_paging/src/main.c
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 #include <mmu.h>
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_BACKING_STORE_RAM_PAGES
-#define EXTRA_PAGES	CONFIG_BACKING_STORE_RAM_PAGES
+#define EXTRA_PAGES	(CONFIG_BACKING_STORE_RAM_PAGES - 1)
 #else
 #error "Unsupported configuration"
 #endif
@@ -182,6 +182,41 @@ void test_z_mem_unpin(void)
 	test_z_mem_page_out();
 }
 
+/* Show that even if we map enough anonymous memory to fill the backing
+ * store, we can still handle pagefaults.
+ * This eats up memory so should be last in the suite.
+ */
+void test_backing_store_capacity(void)
+{
+	char *mem, *ret;
+	int key;
+	unsigned long faults;
+	size_t size = (((CONFIG_BACKING_STORE_RAM_PAGES - 1) - HALF_PAGES) *
+		       CONFIG_MMU_PAGE_SIZE);
+
+	/* Consume the rest of memory */
+	mem = k_mem_map(size, K_MEM_PERM_RW);
+	zassert_not_null(mem, "k_mem_map failed");
+
+	/* Show no memory is left */
+	ret = k_mem_map(CONFIG_MMU_PAGE_SIZE, K_MEM_PERM_RW);
+	zassert_is_null(ret, "k_mem_map shouldn't have succeeded");
+
+	key = irq_lock();
+	faults = z_num_pagefaults_get();
+	/* Poke all anonymous memory */
+	for (size_t i = 0; i < HALF_BYTES; i++) {
+		arena[i] = nums[i % 10];
+	}
+	for (size_t i = 0; i < size; i++) {
+		mem[i] = nums[i % 10];
+	}
+	faults = z_num_pagefaults_get() - faults;
+	irq_unlock(key);
+
+	zassert_not_equal(faults, 0, "should have had some pagefaults");
+}
+
 /* ztest main entry*/
 void test_main(void)
 {
@@ -191,7 +226,8 @@ void test_main(void)
 			ztest_unit_test(test_z_mem_page_out),
 			ztest_unit_test(test_z_mem_page_in),
 			ztest_unit_test(test_z_mem_pin),
-			ztest_unit_test(test_z_mem_unpin)
-			);
+			ztest_unit_test(test_z_mem_unpin),
+			ztest_unit_test(test_backing_store_capacity));
+
 	ztest_run_test_suite(test_demand_paging);
 }