diff --git a/drivers/ata/libata-core.c b/drivers/ata/libata-core.c
index af625147df6274a0e18de69dfb90e393760fb88b..4733f009c7c9cbf476798f151065d236619fb7bc 100644
--- a/drivers/ata/libata-core.c
+++ b/drivers/ata/libata-core.c
@@ -3933,10 +3933,13 @@ static unsigned int ata_dev_set_xfermode(struct ata_device *dev)
 	/* set up set-features taskfile */
 	DPRINTK("set features - xfer mode\n");
 
+	/* Some controllers and ATAPI devices show flaky interrupt
+	 * behavior after setting xfer mode.  Use polling instead.
+	 */
 	ata_tf_init(dev, &tf);
 	tf.command = ATA_CMD_SET_FEATURES;
 	tf.feature = SETFEATURES_XFER;
-	tf.flags |= ATA_TFLAG_ISADDR | ATA_TFLAG_DEVICE;
+	tf.flags |= ATA_TFLAG_ISADDR | ATA_TFLAG_DEVICE | ATA_TFLAG_POLLING;
 	tf.protocol = ATA_PROT_NODATA;
 	tf.nsect = dev->xfer_mode;
 
@@ -5414,14 +5417,6 @@ unsigned int ata_qc_issue_prot(struct ata_queued_cmd *qc)
 		}
 	}
 
-	/* Some controllers show flaky interrupt behavior after
-	 * setting xfer mode.  Use polling instead.
-	 */
-	if (unlikely(qc->tf.command == ATA_CMD_SET_FEATURES &&
-		     qc->tf.feature == SETFEATURES_XFER) &&
-	    (ap->flags & ATA_FLAG_SETXFER_POLLING))
-		qc->tf.flags |= ATA_TFLAG_POLLING;
-
 	/* select the device */
 	ata_dev_select(ap, qc->dev->devno, 1, 0);
 
diff --git a/drivers/ata/pata_via.c b/drivers/ata/pata_via.c
index a8462f1e890b569adeabde5e7beddbbed188ba37..63eca299c62bce1a80c0446c9ec277075d8c839b 100644
--- a/drivers/ata/pata_via.c
+++ b/drivers/ata/pata_via.c
@@ -452,7 +452,7 @@ static int via_init_one(struct pci_dev *pdev, const struct pci_device_id *id)
 	/* Early VIA without UDMA support */
 	static const struct ata_port_info via_mwdma_info = {
 		.sht = &via_sht,
-		.flags = ATA_FLAG_SLAVE_POSS | ATA_FLAG_SETXFER_POLLING,
+		.flags = ATA_FLAG_SLAVE_POSS,
 		.pio_mask = 0x1f,
 		.mwdma_mask = 0x07,
 		.port_ops = &via_port_ops
@@ -460,7 +460,7 @@ static int via_init_one(struct pci_dev *pdev, const struct pci_device_id *id)
 	/* Ditto with IRQ masking required */
 	static const struct ata_port_info via_mwdma_info_borked = {
 		.sht = &via_sht,
-		.flags = ATA_FLAG_SLAVE_POSS | ATA_FLAG_SETXFER_POLLING,
+		.flags = ATA_FLAG_SLAVE_POSS,
 		.pio_mask = 0x1f,
 		.mwdma_mask = 0x07,
 		.port_ops = &via_port_ops_noirq,
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ static int via_init_one(struct pci_dev *pdev, const struct pci_device_id *id)
 	/* VIA UDMA 33 devices (and borked 66) */
 	static const struct ata_port_info via_udma33_info = {
 		.sht = &via_sht,
-		.flags = ATA_FLAG_SLAVE_POSS | ATA_FLAG_SETXFER_POLLING,
+		.flags = ATA_FLAG_SLAVE_POSS,
 		.pio_mask = 0x1f,
 		.mwdma_mask = 0x07,
 		.udma_mask = 0x7,
@@ -477,7 +477,7 @@ static int via_init_one(struct pci_dev *pdev, const struct pci_device_id *id)
 	/* VIA UDMA 66 devices */
 	static const struct ata_port_info via_udma66_info = {
 		.sht = &via_sht,
-		.flags = ATA_FLAG_SLAVE_POSS | ATA_FLAG_SETXFER_POLLING,
+		.flags = ATA_FLAG_SLAVE_POSS,
 		.pio_mask = 0x1f,
 		.mwdma_mask = 0x07,
 		.udma_mask = 0x1f,
@@ -486,7 +486,7 @@ static int via_init_one(struct pci_dev *pdev, const struct pci_device_id *id)
 	/* VIA UDMA 100 devices */
 	static const struct ata_port_info via_udma100_info = {
 		.sht = &via_sht,
-		.flags = ATA_FLAG_SLAVE_POSS | ATA_FLAG_SETXFER_POLLING,
+		.flags = ATA_FLAG_SLAVE_POSS,
 		.pio_mask = 0x1f,
 		.mwdma_mask = 0x07,
 		.udma_mask = 0x3f,
@@ -495,7 +495,7 @@ static int via_init_one(struct pci_dev *pdev, const struct pci_device_id *id)
 	/* UDMA133 with bad AST (All current 133) */
 	static const struct ata_port_info via_udma133_info = {
 		.sht = &via_sht,
-		.flags = ATA_FLAG_SLAVE_POSS | ATA_FLAG_SETXFER_POLLING,
+		.flags = ATA_FLAG_SLAVE_POSS,
 		.pio_mask = 0x1f,
 		.mwdma_mask = 0x07,
 		.udma_mask = 0x7f,	/* FIXME: should check north bridge */
diff --git a/include/linux/libata.h b/include/linux/libata.h
index 85f7b1bd1482ae7094c1d00eeec00b72b2b88d5f..a6a3113120a482f1174d50bcb00c9e7dab522ca6 100644
--- a/include/linux/libata.h
+++ b/include/linux/libata.h
@@ -171,7 +171,6 @@ enum {
 	ATA_FLAG_SKIP_D2H_BSY	= (1 << 12), /* can't wait for the first D2H
 					      * Register FIS clearing BSY */
 	ATA_FLAG_DEBUGMSG	= (1 << 13),
-	ATA_FLAG_SETXFER_POLLING= (1 << 14), /* use polling for SETXFER */
 	ATA_FLAG_IGN_SIMPLEX	= (1 << 15), /* ignore SIMPLEX */
 	ATA_FLAG_NO_IORDY	= (1 << 16), /* controller lacks iordy */
 	ATA_FLAG_ACPI_SATA	= (1 << 17), /* need native SATA ACPI layout */