diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx4/qp.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx4/qp.c
index 203320923340e4b52bb8fbe59334ebda18d234b2..769598f7b6c87eb83540c88678570869e6ca8d26 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx4/qp.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx4/qp.c
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ void mlx4_qp_event(struct mlx4_dev *dev, u32 qpn, int event_type)
 
 	qp = __mlx4_qp_lookup(dev, qpn);
 	if (qp)
-		atomic_inc(&qp->refcount);
+		refcount_inc(&qp->refcount);
 
 	spin_unlock(&qp_table->lock);
 
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ void mlx4_qp_event(struct mlx4_dev *dev, u32 qpn, int event_type)
 
 	qp->event(qp, event_type);
 
-	if (atomic_dec_and_test(&qp->refcount))
+	if (refcount_dec_and_test(&qp->refcount))
 		complete(&qp->free);
 }
 
@@ -420,7 +420,7 @@ int mlx4_qp_alloc(struct mlx4_dev *dev, int qpn, struct mlx4_qp *qp)
 	if (err)
 		goto err_icm;
 
-	atomic_set(&qp->refcount, 1);
+	refcount_set(&qp->refcount, 1);
 	init_completion(&qp->free);
 
 	return 0;
@@ -520,7 +520,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(mlx4_qp_remove);
 
 void mlx4_qp_free(struct mlx4_dev *dev, struct mlx4_qp *qp)
 {
-	if (atomic_dec_and_test(&qp->refcount))
+	if (refcount_dec_and_test(&qp->refcount))
 		complete(&qp->free);
 	wait_for_completion(&qp->free);
 
diff --git a/include/linux/mlx4/device.h b/include/linux/mlx4/device.h
index daac2e3a1a58035c0a28d8ce9bf71eb584b68e33..b8e19c4d6caafd89e613c81560fc9ee87f27f868 100644
--- a/include/linux/mlx4/device.h
+++ b/include/linux/mlx4/device.h
@@ -768,7 +768,7 @@ struct mlx4_qp {
 
 	int			qpn;
 
-	atomic_t		refcount;
+	refcount_t		refcount;
 	struct completion	free;
 	u8			usage;
 };