diff --git a/libcutils/sched_policy.c b/libcutils/sched_policy.c
index 46bd5ac19..e89998a9c 100644
--- a/libcutils/sched_policy.c
+++ b/libcutils/sched_policy.c
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ static int bg_cgroup_fd = -1;
 static int fg_cgroup_fd = -1;
 
 // File descriptors open to /dev/cpuset/../tasks, setup by initialize, or -1 on error
+static int system_bg_cpuset_fd = -1;
 static int bg_cpuset_fd = -1;
 static int fg_cpuset_fd = -1;
 static int bg_schedboost_fd = -1;
@@ -128,6 +129,11 @@ static void __initialize(void) {
         fg_cpuset_fd = open(filename, O_WRONLY | O_CLOEXEC);
         filename = "/dev/cpuset/background/tasks";
         bg_cpuset_fd = open(filename, O_WRONLY | O_CLOEXEC);
+        filename = "/dev/cpuset/system-background/tasks";
+        system_bg_cpuset_fd = open(filename, O_WRONLY | O_CLOEXEC);
+        if (system_bg_cpuset_fd < 0) {
+            SLOGE("initialize of system-bg failed: %s\n", strerror(errno));
+        }
 #ifdef USE_SCHEDBOOST
         filename = "/sys/fs/cgroup/stune/foreground/tasks";
         fg_schedboost_fd = open(filename, O_WRONLY | O_CLOEXEC);
@@ -271,6 +277,9 @@ int set_cpuset_policy(int tid, SchedPolicy policy)
         fd = fg_cpuset_fd;
         boost_fd = fg_schedboost_fd;
         break;
+    case SP_SYSTEM:
+        fd = system_bg_cpuset_fd;
+        break;
     default:
         boost_fd = fd = -1;
         break;
diff --git a/rootdir/init.rc b/rootdir/init.rc
index b8df64789..92d34d9d0 100644
--- a/rootdir/init.rc
+++ b/rootdir/init.rc
@@ -174,6 +174,9 @@ on init
     chown system system /dev/cpuset/foreground/boost/tasks
     chown system system /dev/cpuset/background/tasks
     chown system system /dev/cpuset/system-background/tasks
+
+    # set system-background to 0775 so SurfaceFlinger can touch it
+    chmod 0775 /dev/cpuset/system-background
     chmod 0664 /dev/cpuset/foreground/tasks
     chmod 0664 /dev/cpuset/foreground/boost/tasks
     chmod 0664 /dev/cpuset/background/tasks
@@ -652,7 +655,6 @@ service surfaceflinger /system/bin/surfaceflinger
     user system
     group graphics drmrpc
     onrestart restart zygote
-    writepid /sys/fs/cgroup/stune/foreground/tasks /dev/cpuset/system-background/tasks
 
 service drm /system/bin/drmserver
     class main