diff --git a/net/ceph/mon_client.c b/net/ceph/mon_client.c
index ac4d6b100730568ba683570ca5e7109bc35e35d2..062b7247807726e75218c827a70df10489571416 100644
--- a/net/ceph/mon_client.c
+++ b/net/ceph/mon_client.c
@@ -1029,9 +1029,23 @@ static void mon_fault(struct ceph_connection *con)
 	mutex_unlock(&monc->mutex);
 }
 
+/*
+ * We can ignore refcounting on the connection struct, as all references
+ * will come from the messenger workqueue, which is drained prior to
+ * mon_client destruction.
+ */
+static struct ceph_connection *con_get(struct ceph_connection *con)
+{
+	return con;
+}
+
+static void con_put(struct ceph_connection *con)
+{
+}
+
 static const struct ceph_connection_operations mon_con_ops = {
-	.get = ceph_con_get,
-	.put = ceph_con_put,
+	.get = con_get,
+	.put = con_put,
 	.dispatch = dispatch,
 	.fault = mon_fault,
 	.alloc_msg = mon_alloc_msg,