diff --git a/Documentation/cgroups/cgroups.txt b/Documentation/cgroups/cgroups.txt
index 8e74980ab385e294a0d47cd09f635a20a66d0066..e86faaea7d66a4c15b1ef6aba962960d2c320065 100644
--- a/Documentation/cgroups/cgroups.txt
+++ b/Documentation/cgroups/cgroups.txt
@@ -656,7 +656,7 @@ example in cpusets, no task may attach before 'cpus' and 'mems' are set
 up.
 
 void bind(struct cgroup *root)
-(cgroup_mutex and ss->hierarchy_mutex held by caller)
+(cgroup_mutex held by caller)
 
 Called when a cgroup subsystem is rebound to a different hierarchy
 and root cgroup. Currently this will only involve movement between
diff --git a/include/linux/cgroup.h b/include/linux/cgroup.h
index d3f5fba2c159c3efdef245a7abd23842c3c5be07..c90eaa80344017fd8a8e7555508a20949020f61f 100644
--- a/include/linux/cgroup.h
+++ b/include/linux/cgroup.h
@@ -499,22 +499,9 @@ struct cgroup_subsys {
 #define MAX_CGROUP_TYPE_NAMELEN 32
 	const char *name;
 
-	/*
-	 * Protects sibling/children links of cgroups in this
-	 * hierarchy, plus protects which hierarchy (or none) the
-	 * subsystem is a part of (i.e. root/sibling).  To avoid
-	 * potential deadlocks, the following operations should not be
-	 * undertaken while holding any hierarchy_mutex:
-	 *
-	 * - allocating memory
-	 * - initiating hotplug events
-	 */
-	struct mutex hierarchy_mutex;
-	struct lock_class_key subsys_key;
-
 	/*
 	 * Link to parent, and list entry in parent's children.
-	 * Protected by this->hierarchy_mutex and cgroup_lock()
+	 * Protected by cgroup_lock()
 	 */
 	struct cgroupfs_root *root;
 	struct list_head sibling;
@@ -602,7 +589,7 @@ int cgroup_attach_task_all(struct task_struct *from, struct task_struct *);
  * the lifetime of cgroup_subsys_state is subsys's matter.
  *
  * Looking up and scanning function should be called under rcu_read_lock().
- * Taking cgroup_mutex()/hierarchy_mutex() is not necessary for following calls.
+ * Taking cgroup_mutex is not necessary for following calls.
  * But the css returned by this routine can be "not populated yet" or "being
  * destroyed". The caller should check css and cgroup's status.
  */
diff --git a/kernel/cgroup.c b/kernel/cgroup.c
index ceeafe874b3fda0e51cef70d20b9e809f094fc77..dec62f5936efc3cd5532d21d29d3f1ae1dc9309d 100644
--- a/kernel/cgroup.c
+++ b/kernel/cgroup.c
@@ -1073,28 +1073,24 @@ static int rebind_subsystems(struct cgroupfs_root *root,
 			BUG_ON(cgrp->subsys[i]);
 			BUG_ON(!dummytop->subsys[i]);
 			BUG_ON(dummytop->subsys[i]->cgroup != dummytop);
-			mutex_lock(&ss->hierarchy_mutex);
 			cgrp->subsys[i] = dummytop->subsys[i];
 			cgrp->subsys[i]->cgroup = cgrp;
 			list_move(&ss->sibling, &root->subsys_list);
 			ss->root = root;
 			if (ss->bind)
 				ss->bind(cgrp);
-			mutex_unlock(&ss->hierarchy_mutex);
 			/* refcount was already taken, and we're keeping it */
 		} else if (bit & removed_bits) {
 			/* We're removing this subsystem */
 			BUG_ON(ss == NULL);
 			BUG_ON(cgrp->subsys[i] != dummytop->subsys[i]);
 			BUG_ON(cgrp->subsys[i]->cgroup != cgrp);
-			mutex_lock(&ss->hierarchy_mutex);
 			if (ss->bind)
 				ss->bind(dummytop);
 			dummytop->subsys[i]->cgroup = dummytop;
 			cgrp->subsys[i] = NULL;
 			subsys[i]->root = &rootnode;
 			list_move(&ss->sibling, &rootnode.subsys_list);
-			mutex_unlock(&ss->hierarchy_mutex);
 			/* subsystem is now free - drop reference on module */
 			module_put(ss->module);
 		} else if (bit & final_bits) {
@@ -3917,37 +3913,6 @@ static void init_cgroup_css(struct cgroup_subsys_state *css,
 		set_bit(CSS_CLEAR_CSS_REFS, &css->flags);
 }
 
-static void cgroup_lock_hierarchy(struct cgroupfs_root *root)
-{
-	/* We need to take each hierarchy_mutex in a consistent order */
-	int i;
-
-	/*
-	 * No worry about a race with rebind_subsystems that might mess up the
-	 * locking order, since both parties are under cgroup_mutex.
-	 */
-	for (i = 0; i < CGROUP_SUBSYS_COUNT; i++) {
-		struct cgroup_subsys *ss = subsys[i];
-		if (ss == NULL)
-			continue;
-		if (ss->root == root)
-			mutex_lock(&ss->hierarchy_mutex);
-	}
-}
-
-static void cgroup_unlock_hierarchy(struct cgroupfs_root *root)
-{
-	int i;
-
-	for (i = 0; i < CGROUP_SUBSYS_COUNT; i++) {
-		struct cgroup_subsys *ss = subsys[i];
-		if (ss == NULL)
-			continue;
-		if (ss->root == root)
-			mutex_unlock(&ss->hierarchy_mutex);
-	}
-}
-
 /*
  * cgroup_create - create a cgroup
  * @parent: cgroup that will be parent of the new cgroup
@@ -4008,9 +3973,7 @@ static long cgroup_create(struct cgroup *parent, struct dentry *dentry,
 			ss->post_clone(cgrp);
 	}
 
-	cgroup_lock_hierarchy(root);
 	list_add(&cgrp->sibling, &cgrp->parent->children);
-	cgroup_unlock_hierarchy(root);
 	root->number_of_cgroups++;
 
 	err = cgroup_create_dir(cgrp, dentry, mode);
@@ -4037,9 +4000,7 @@ static long cgroup_create(struct cgroup *parent, struct dentry *dentry,
 
  err_remove:
 
-	cgroup_lock_hierarchy(root);
 	list_del(&cgrp->sibling);
-	cgroup_unlock_hierarchy(root);
 	root->number_of_cgroups--;
 
  err_destroy:
@@ -4247,10 +4208,8 @@ static int cgroup_rmdir(struct inode *unused_dir, struct dentry *dentry)
 		list_del_init(&cgrp->release_list);
 	raw_spin_unlock(&release_list_lock);
 
-	cgroup_lock_hierarchy(cgrp->root);
 	/* delete this cgroup from parent->children */
 	list_del_init(&cgrp->sibling);
-	cgroup_unlock_hierarchy(cgrp->root);
 
 	list_del_init(&cgrp->allcg_node);
 
@@ -4324,8 +4283,6 @@ static void __init cgroup_init_subsys(struct cgroup_subsys *ss)
 	 * need to invoke fork callbacks here. */
 	BUG_ON(!list_empty(&init_task.tasks));
 
-	mutex_init(&ss->hierarchy_mutex);
-	lockdep_set_class(&ss->hierarchy_mutex, &ss->subsys_key);
 	ss->active = 1;
 
 	/* this function shouldn't be used with modular subsystems, since they
@@ -4452,8 +4409,6 @@ int __init_or_module cgroup_load_subsys(struct cgroup_subsys *ss)
 	}
 	write_unlock(&css_set_lock);
 
-	mutex_init(&ss->hierarchy_mutex);
-	lockdep_set_class(&ss->hierarchy_mutex, &ss->subsys_key);
 	ss->active = 1;
 
 	/* success! */