diff --git a/include/linux/trace_events.h b/include/linux/trace_events.h
index b8b87e7ba93f2..a8e9d1a04f82c 100644
--- a/include/linux/trace_events.h
+++ b/include/linux/trace_events.h
@@ -341,7 +341,6 @@ enum {
 	EVENT_FILE_FL_TRIGGER_COND_BIT,
 	EVENT_FILE_FL_PID_FILTER_BIT,
 	EVENT_FILE_FL_WAS_ENABLED_BIT,
-	EVENT_FILE_FL_FREED_BIT,
 };
 
 /*
@@ -358,7 +357,6 @@ enum {
  *  TRIGGER_COND  - When set, one or more triggers has an associated filter
  *  PID_FILTER    - When set, the event is filtered based on pid
  *  WAS_ENABLED   - Set when enabled to know to clear trace on module removal
- *  FREED         - File descriptor is freed, all fields should be considered invalid
  */
 enum {
 	EVENT_FILE_FL_ENABLED		= (1 << EVENT_FILE_FL_ENABLED_BIT),
@@ -372,7 +370,6 @@ enum {
 	EVENT_FILE_FL_TRIGGER_COND	= (1 << EVENT_FILE_FL_TRIGGER_COND_BIT),
 	EVENT_FILE_FL_PID_FILTER	= (1 << EVENT_FILE_FL_PID_FILTER_BIT),
 	EVENT_FILE_FL_WAS_ENABLED	= (1 << EVENT_FILE_FL_WAS_ENABLED_BIT),
-	EVENT_FILE_FL_FREED		= (1 << EVENT_FILE_FL_FREED_BIT),
 };
 
 struct trace_event_file {
@@ -401,7 +398,6 @@ struct trace_event_file {
 	 * caching and such. Which is mostly OK ;-)
 	 */
 	unsigned long		flags;
-	atomic_t		ref;	/* ref count for opened files */
 	atomic_t		sm_ref;	/* soft-mode reference counter */
 	atomic_t		tm_ref;	/* trigger-mode reference counter */
 };
diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace.c b/kernel/trace/trace.c
index 655e7cc7b7f51..6552f7cc2331b 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace.c
@@ -4257,20 +4257,6 @@ int tracing_open_file_tr(struct inode *inode, struct file *filp)
 	if (ret)
 		return ret;
 
-	mutex_lock(&event_mutex);
-
-	/* Fail if the file is marked for removal */
-	if (file->flags & EVENT_FILE_FL_FREED) {
-		trace_array_put(file->tr);
-		ret = -ENODEV;
-	} else {
-		event_file_get(file);
-	}
-
-	mutex_unlock(&event_mutex);
-	if (ret)
-		return ret;
-
 	filp->private_data = inode->i_private;
 
 	return 0;
@@ -4281,7 +4267,6 @@ int tracing_release_file_tr(struct inode *inode, struct file *filp)
 	struct trace_event_file *file = inode->i_private;
 
 	trace_array_put(file->tr);
-	event_file_put(file);
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace.h b/kernel/trace/trace.h
index 509cd24488d20..57625f030bc38 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace.h
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace.h
@@ -1696,9 +1696,6 @@ extern int register_event_command(struct event_command *cmd);
 extern int unregister_event_command(struct event_command *cmd);
 extern int register_trigger_hist_enable_disable_cmds(void);
 
-extern void event_file_get(struct trace_event_file *file);
-extern void event_file_put(struct trace_event_file *file);
-
 /**
  * struct event_trigger_ops - callbacks for trace event triggers
  *
diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace_events.c b/kernel/trace/trace_events.c
index 958789fe4cef7..4f42dd0880796 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace_events.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace_events.c
@@ -698,33 +698,21 @@ static void remove_subsystem(struct trace_subsystem_dir *dir)
 	}
 }
 
-void event_file_get(struct trace_event_file *file)
-{
-	atomic_inc(&file->ref);
-}
-
-void event_file_put(struct trace_event_file *file)
-{
-	if (WARN_ON_ONCE(!atomic_read(&file->ref))) {
-		if (file->flags & EVENT_FILE_FL_FREED)
-			kmem_cache_free(file_cachep, file);
-		return;
-	}
-
-	if (atomic_dec_and_test(&file->ref)) {
-		/* Count should only go to zero when it is freed */
-		if (WARN_ON_ONCE(!(file->flags & EVENT_FILE_FL_FREED)))
-			return;
-		kmem_cache_free(file_cachep, file);
-	}
-}
-
 static void remove_event_file_dir(struct trace_event_file *file)
 {
 	struct dentry *dir = file->dir;
+	struct dentry *child;
+
+	if (dir) {
+		spin_lock(&dir->d_lock);	/* probably unneeded */
+		list_for_each_entry(child, &dir->d_subdirs, d_child) {
+			if (d_really_is_positive(child))	/* probably unneeded */
+				d_inode(child)->i_private = NULL;
+		}
+		spin_unlock(&dir->d_lock);
 
-	if (dir)
 		tracefs_remove_recursive(dir);
+	}
 
 	list_del(&file->list);
 	remove_subsystem(file->system);
@@ -1045,7 +1033,7 @@ event_enable_read(struct file *filp, char __user *ubuf, size_t cnt,
 		flags = file->flags;
 	mutex_unlock(&event_mutex);
 
-	if (!file || flags & EVENT_FILE_FL_FREED)
+	if (!file)
 		return -ENODEV;
 
 	if (flags & EVENT_FILE_FL_ENABLED &&
@@ -1083,7 +1071,7 @@ event_enable_write(struct file *filp, const char __user *ubuf, size_t cnt,
 		ret = -ENODEV;
 		mutex_lock(&event_mutex);
 		file = event_file_data(filp);
-		if (likely(file && !(file->flags & EVENT_FILE_FL_FREED)))
+		if (likely(file))
 			ret = ftrace_event_enable_disable(file, val);
 		mutex_unlock(&event_mutex);
 		break;
@@ -1352,7 +1340,7 @@ event_filter_read(struct file *filp, char __user *ubuf, size_t cnt,
 
 	mutex_lock(&event_mutex);
 	file = event_file_data(filp);
-	if (file && !(file->flags & EVENT_FILE_FL_FREED))
+	if (file)
 		print_event_filter(file, s);
 	mutex_unlock(&event_mutex);
 
@@ -2276,7 +2264,6 @@ trace_create_new_event(struct trace_event_call *call,
 	atomic_set(&file->tm_ref, 0);
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&file->triggers);
 	list_add(&file->list, &tr->events);
-	event_file_get(file);
 
 	return file;
 }
diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace_events_filter.c b/kernel/trace/trace_events_filter.c
index bad8cf24837ec..bf44f6bbd0c36 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace_events_filter.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace_events_filter.c
@@ -1800,9 +1800,6 @@ int apply_event_filter(struct trace_event_file *file, char *filter_string)
 	struct event_filter *filter = NULL;
 	int err;
 
-	if (file->flags & EVENT_FILE_FL_FREED)
-		return -ENODEV;
-
 	if (!strcmp(strstrip(filter_string), "0")) {
 		filter_disable(file);
 		filter = event_filter(file);