diff --git a/include/linux/irq_work.h b/include/linux/irq_work.h
index 47b9ebd4a74f..0e427a9997f3 100644
--- a/include/linux/irq_work.h
+++ b/include/linux/irq_work.h
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 #define IRQ_WORK_BUSY		2UL
 #define IRQ_WORK_FLAGS		3UL
 #define IRQ_WORK_LAZY		4UL /* Doesn't want IPI, wait for tick */
+#define IRQ_WORK_HARD_IRQ	8UL /* Run hard IRQ context, even on RT */
 
 struct irq_work {
 	unsigned long flags;
diff --git a/kernel/irq_work.c b/kernel/irq_work.c
index bcf107ce0854..0ddaf1e66d8c 100644
--- a/kernel/irq_work.c
+++ b/kernel/irq_work.c
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 #include <linux/cpu.h>
 #include <linux/notifier.h>
 #include <linux/smp.h>
+#include <linux/interrupt.h>
 #include <asm/processor.h>
 
 
@@ -65,6 +66,8 @@ void __weak arch_irq_work_raise(void)
  */
 bool irq_work_queue_on(struct irq_work *work, int cpu)
 {
+	struct llist_head *list;
+
 	/* All work should have been flushed before going offline */
 	WARN_ON_ONCE(cpu_is_offline(cpu));
 
@@ -75,7 +78,12 @@ bool irq_work_queue_on(struct irq_work *work, int cpu)
 	if (!irq_work_claim(work))
 		return false;
 
-	if (llist_add(&work->llnode, &per_cpu(raised_list, cpu)))
+	if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_PREEMPT_RT_FULL) && !(work->flags & IRQ_WORK_HARD_IRQ))
+		list = &per_cpu(lazy_list, cpu);
+	else
+		list = &per_cpu(raised_list, cpu);
+
+	if (llist_add(&work->llnode, list))
 		arch_send_call_function_single_ipi(cpu);
 
 	return true;
@@ -86,6 +94,9 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(irq_work_queue_on);
 /* Enqueue the irq work @work on the current CPU */
 bool irq_work_queue(struct irq_work *work)
 {
+	struct llist_head *list;
+	bool lazy_work, realtime = IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_PREEMPT_RT_FULL);
+
 	/* Only queue if not already pending */
 	if (!irq_work_claim(work))
 		return false;
@@ -93,13 +104,15 @@ bool irq_work_queue(struct irq_work *work)
 	/* Queue the entry and raise the IPI if needed. */
 	preempt_disable();
 
-	/* If the work is "lazy", handle it from next tick if any */
-	if (work->flags & IRQ_WORK_LAZY) {
-		if (llist_add(&work->llnode, this_cpu_ptr(&lazy_list)) &&
-		    tick_nohz_tick_stopped())
-			arch_irq_work_raise();
-	} else {
-		if (llist_add(&work->llnode, this_cpu_ptr(&raised_list)))
+	lazy_work = work->flags & IRQ_WORK_LAZY;
+
+	if (lazy_work || (realtime && !(work->flags & IRQ_WORK_HARD_IRQ)))
+		list = this_cpu_ptr(&lazy_list);
+	else
+		list = this_cpu_ptr(&raised_list);
+
+	if (llist_add(&work->llnode, list)) {
+		if (!lazy_work || tick_nohz_tick_stopped())
 			arch_irq_work_raise();
 	}
 
@@ -116,9 +129,8 @@ bool irq_work_needs_cpu(void)
 	raised = this_cpu_ptr(&raised_list);
 	lazy = this_cpu_ptr(&lazy_list);
 
-	if (llist_empty(raised) || arch_irq_work_has_interrupt())
-		if (llist_empty(lazy))
-			return false;
+	if (llist_empty(raised) && llist_empty(lazy))
+		return false;
 
 	/* All work should have been flushed before going offline */
 	WARN_ON_ONCE(cpu_is_offline(smp_processor_id()));
@@ -132,7 +144,7 @@ static void irq_work_run_list(struct llist_head *list)
 	struct irq_work *work;
 	struct llist_node *llnode;
 
-	BUG_ON(!irqs_disabled());
+	BUG_ON_NONRT(!irqs_disabled());
 
 	if (llist_empty(list))
 		return;
@@ -169,7 +181,16 @@ static void irq_work_run_list(struct llist_head *list)
 void irq_work_run(void)
 {
 	irq_work_run_list(this_cpu_ptr(&raised_list));
-	irq_work_run_list(this_cpu_ptr(&lazy_list));
+	if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_PREEMPT_RT_FULL)) {
+		/*
+		 * NOTE: we raise softirq via IPI for safety,
+		 * and execute in irq_work_tick() to move the
+		 * overhead from hard to soft irq context.
+		 */
+		if (!llist_empty(this_cpu_ptr(&lazy_list)))
+			raise_softirq(TIMER_SOFTIRQ);
+	} else
+		irq_work_run_list(this_cpu_ptr(&lazy_list));
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(irq_work_run);
 
diff --git a/kernel/sched/core.c b/kernel/sched/core.c
index 4d5fcfa3a96e..5f66d62bca5b 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/core.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/core.c
@@ -6046,6 +6046,7 @@ static int init_rootdomain(struct root_domain *rd)
 	rd->rto_cpu = -1;
 	raw_spin_lock_init(&rd->rto_lock);
 	init_irq_work(&rd->rto_push_work, rto_push_irq_work_func);
+	rd->rto_push_work.flags |= IRQ_WORK_HARD_IRQ;
 #endif
 
 	init_dl_bw(&rd->dl_bw);
diff --git a/kernel/time/tick-sched.c b/kernel/time/tick-sched.c
index 586c3bcc3e01..87fd56b88f01 100644
--- a/kernel/time/tick-sched.c
+++ b/kernel/time/tick-sched.c
@@ -220,6 +220,7 @@ static void nohz_full_kick_func(struct irq_work *work)
 
 static DEFINE_PER_CPU(struct irq_work, nohz_full_kick_work) = {
 	.func = nohz_full_kick_func,
+	.flags = IRQ_WORK_HARD_IRQ,
 };
 
 /*
diff --git a/kernel/time/timer.c b/kernel/time/timer.c
index a416cee45801..e345117292fe 100644
--- a/kernel/time/timer.c
+++ b/kernel/time/timer.c
@@ -1661,7 +1661,7 @@ void update_process_times(int user_tick)
 	scheduler_tick();
 	run_local_timers();
 	rcu_check_callbacks(user_tick);
-#ifdef CONFIG_IRQ_WORK
+#if defined(CONFIG_IRQ_WORK) && !defined(CONFIG_PREEMPT_RT_FULL)
 	if (in_irq())
 		irq_work_tick();
 #endif
@@ -1717,6 +1717,10 @@ static __latent_entropy void run_timer_softirq(struct softirq_action *h)
 {
 	struct timer_base *base = this_cpu_ptr(&timer_bases[BASE_STD]);
 
+#if defined(CONFIG_IRQ_WORK) && defined(CONFIG_PREEMPT_RT_FULL)
+	irq_work_tick();
+#endif
+
 	__run_timers(base);
 	if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_NO_HZ_COMMON))
 		__run_timers(this_cpu_ptr(&timer_bases[BASE_DEF]));