diff --git a/include/linux/cgroup.h b/include/linux/cgroup.h
index 8f64b459fbd42286b515422c1bade921821cbf00..d605857c4bf3795de234adfebc2f67c3cae33b67 100644
--- a/include/linux/cgroup.h
+++ b/include/linux/cgroup.h
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ struct cgroup {
 	struct list_head files;		/* my files */
 
 	struct cgroup *parent;		/* my parent */
-	struct dentry __rcu *dentry;	/* cgroup fs entry, RCU protected */
+	struct dentry *dentry;		/* cgroup fs entry, RCU protected */
 
 	/* Private pointers for each registered subsystem */
 	struct cgroup_subsys_state *subsys[CGROUP_SUBSYS_COUNT];
diff --git a/kernel/cgroup.c b/kernel/cgroup.c
index d62a529db2f7f0d30ca26e9587bac81fc24b0659..affc76d7f739aa8c9f3ea3f15452c1164e5ce844 100644
--- a/kernel/cgroup.c
+++ b/kernel/cgroup.c
@@ -1756,9 +1756,11 @@ static struct kobject *cgroup_kobj;
  */
 int cgroup_path(const struct cgroup *cgrp, char *buf, int buflen)
 {
+	struct dentry *dentry = cgrp->dentry;
 	char *start;
-	struct dentry *dentry = rcu_dereference_check(cgrp->dentry,
-						      cgroup_lock_is_held());
+
+	rcu_lockdep_assert(rcu_read_lock_held() || cgroup_lock_is_held(),
+			   "cgroup_path() called without proper locking");
 
 	if (!dentry || cgrp == dummytop) {
 		/*
@@ -1782,8 +1784,7 @@ int cgroup_path(const struct cgroup *cgrp, char *buf, int buflen)
 		if (!cgrp)
 			break;
 
-		dentry = rcu_dereference_check(cgrp->dentry,
-					       cgroup_lock_is_held());
+		dentry = cgrp->dentry;
 		if (!cgrp->parent)
 			continue;
 		if (--start < buf)
@@ -4124,7 +4125,7 @@ static long cgroup_create(struct cgroup *parent, struct dentry *dentry,
 
 	/* allocation complete, commit to creation */
 	dentry->d_fsdata = cgrp;
-	rcu_assign_pointer(cgrp->dentry, dentry);
+	cgrp->dentry = dentry;
 	list_add_tail(&cgrp->allcg_node, &root->allcg_list);
 	list_add_tail_rcu(&cgrp->sibling, &cgrp->parent->children);
 	root->number_of_cgroups++;