Index: head/sys/vm/vm_pageout.c
===================================================================
--- head/sys/vm/vm_pageout.c
+++ head/sys/vm/vm_pageout.c
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@
 
 SYSCTL_INT(_vm, OID_AUTO, panic_on_oom,
 	CTLFLAG_RWTUN, &vm_panic_on_oom, 0,
-	"panic on out of memory instead of killing the largest process");
+	"Panic on the given number of out-of-memory errors instead of killing the largest process");
 
 SYSCTL_INT(_vm, OID_AUTO, pageout_update_period,
 	CTLFLAG_RWTUN, &vm_pageout_update_period, 0,
@@ -1933,7 +1933,7 @@
 	}
 	sx_sunlock(&allproc_lock);
 	if (bigproc != NULL) {
-		if (vm_panic_on_oom != 0)
+		if (vm_panic_on_oom != 0 && --vm_panic_on_oom == 0)
 			panic("out of swap space");
 		PROC_LOCK(bigproc);
 		killproc(bigproc, "out of swap space");