char                            *tag;           /* cache binding tag */
        refcount_t                      unbind_pincount;/* refcount to do daemon unbind */
        struct xarray                   reqs;           /* xarray of pending on-demand requests */
+       unsigned long                   req_id_next;
        struct xarray                   ondemand_ids;   /* xarray for ondemand_id allocation */
        u32                             ondemand_id_next;
 };
 
        unsigned long id = 0;
        size_t n;
        int ret = 0;
-       XA_STATE(xas, &cache->reqs, 0);
+       XA_STATE(xas, &cache->reqs, cache->req_id_next);
 
        /*
-        * Search for a request that has not ever been processed, to prevent
-        * requests from being processed repeatedly.
+        * Cyclically search for a request that has not ever been processed,
+        * to prevent requests from being processed repeatedly, and make
+        * request distribution fair.
         */
        xa_lock(&cache->reqs);
        req = xas_find_marked(&xas, UINT_MAX, CACHEFILES_REQ_NEW);
+       if (!req && cache->req_id_next > 0) {
+               xas_set(&xas, 0);
+               req = xas_find_marked(&xas, cache->req_id_next - 1, CACHEFILES_REQ_NEW);
+       }
        if (!req) {
                xa_unlock(&cache->reqs);
                return 0;
        }
 
        xas_clear_mark(&xas, CACHEFILES_REQ_NEW);
+       cache->req_id_next = xas.xa_index + 1;
        xa_unlock(&cache->reqs);
 
        id = xas.xa_index;