diff --git a/kernel/bpf/hashtab.c b/kernel/bpf/hashtab.c
index 1b28fb006763a663dbeb81679c4c9f265926fbde..3f3ed33bd2fdc372e95d2de73b2d7d2d9b3085e8 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/hashtab.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/hashtab.c
@@ -667,15 +667,7 @@ static void htab_elem_free_rcu(struct rcu_head *head)
 	struct htab_elem *l = container_of(head, struct htab_elem, rcu);
 	struct bpf_htab *htab = l->htab;
 
-	/* must increment bpf_prog_active to avoid kprobe+bpf triggering while
-	 * we're calling kfree, otherwise deadlock is possible if kprobes
-	 * are placed somewhere inside of slub
-	 */
-	preempt_disable();
-	__this_cpu_inc(bpf_prog_active);
 	htab_elem_free(htab, l);
-	__this_cpu_dec(bpf_prog_active);
-	preempt_enable();
 }
 
 static void htab_put_fd_value(struct bpf_htab *htab, struct htab_elem *l)