diff --git a/Documentation/btrfs-balance.asciidoc b/Documentation/btrfs-balance.asciidoc
index d00abdfc..3562a286 100644
--- a/Documentation/btrfs-balance.asciidoc
+++ b/Documentation/btrfs-balance.asciidoc
@@ -130,6 +130,12 @@ parameters.
 Process only given number of chunks, after all filters are applied. This can be
 used to specifically target a chunk in connection with other filters (drange,
 vrange) or just simply limit the amount of work done by a single balance run.
++
+The argument may be a single value or a range. The single value *N* means *at
+most N chunks*, equivalent to *..N* range syntax. Kernels prior to 4.4 accept
+only the single value format.
++
+The range minimum and maximum are inclusive.
 
 *soft*::
 Takes no parameters. Only has meaning when converting between profiles.
diff --git a/cmds-balance.c b/cmds-balance.c
index c5be6b9c..dd1c8571 100644
--- a/cmds-balance.c
+++ b/cmds-balance.c
@@ -347,6 +347,10 @@ static void dump_balance_args(struct btrfs_balance_args *args)
 		       (unsigned long long)args->vend);
 	if (args->flags & BTRFS_BALANCE_ARGS_LIMIT)
 		printf(", limit=%llu", (unsigned long long)args->limit);
+	if (args->flags & BTRFS_BALANCE_ARGS_LIMIT_RANGE) {
+		printf(", limit=");
+		print_range_u32(args->limit_min, args->limit_max);
+	}
 
 	printf("\n");
 }
diff --git a/ioctl.h b/ioctl.h
index dff015a5..e5cf3230 100644
--- a/ioctl.h
+++ b/ioctl.h
@@ -227,7 +227,18 @@ struct btrfs_balance_args {
 
 	__u64 flags;
 
-	__u64 limit;		/* limit number of processed chunks */
+	/*
+	 * BTRFS_BALANCE_ARGS_LIMIT with value 'limit'
+	 * BTRFS_BALANCE_ARGS_LIMIT_RANGE - the extend version can use minimum
+	 * and maximum
+	 */
+	union {
+		__u64 limit;		/* limit number of processed chunks */
+		struct {
+			__u32 limit_min;
+			__u32 limit_max;
+		};
+	};
 	__u64 unused[7];
 } __attribute__ ((__packed__));
 
diff --git a/volumes.h b/volumes.h
index eb434f1b..b6ea1912 100644
--- a/volumes.h
+++ b/volumes.h
@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@ struct map_lookup {
 #define BTRFS_BALANCE_ARGS_DRANGE	(1ULL << 3)
 #define BTRFS_BALANCE_ARGS_VRANGE	(1ULL << 4)
 #define BTRFS_BALANCE_ARGS_LIMIT	(1ULL << 5)
+#define BTRFS_BALANCE_ARGS_LIMIT_RANGE	(1ULL << 6)
 
 /*
  * Profile changing flags.  When SOFT is set we won't relocate chunk if