diff --git a/include/linux/backing-dev.h b/include/linux/backing-dev.h
index 238521a1984..2a9a9abc912 100644
--- a/include/linux/backing-dev.h
+++ b/include/linux/backing-dev.h
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
 #include <linux/writeback.h>
 #include <linux/atomic.h>
 #include <linux/sysctl.h>
-#include <linux/mutex.h>
 
 struct page;
 struct device;
@@ -106,9 +105,6 @@ struct backing_dev_info {
 
 	struct timer_list laptop_mode_wb_timer;
 
-	cpumask_t *flusher_cpumask; /* used for writeback thread scheduling */
-	struct mutex flusher_cpumask_lock;
-
 #ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_FS
 	struct dentry *debug_dir;
 	struct dentry *debug_stats;
diff --git a/mm/backing-dev.c b/mm/backing-dev.c
index bd6a6cabef7..d3ca2b3ee17 100644
--- a/mm/backing-dev.c
+++ b/mm/backing-dev.c
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
 #include <linux/module.h>
 #include <linux/writeback.h>
 #include <linux/device.h>
-#include <linux/slab.h>
 #include <trace/events/writeback.h>
 
 static atomic_long_t bdi_seq = ATOMIC_LONG_INIT(0);
@@ -222,63 +221,12 @@ static ssize_t max_ratio_store(struct device *dev,
 }
 BDI_SHOW(max_ratio, bdi->max_ratio)
 
-static ssize_t cpu_list_store(struct device *dev,
-		struct device_attribute *attr, const char *buf, size_t count)
-{
-	struct backing_dev_info *bdi = dev_get_drvdata(dev);
-	struct bdi_writeback *wb = &bdi->wb;
-	cpumask_var_t newmask;
-	ssize_t ret;
-	struct task_struct *task;
-
-	if (!alloc_cpumask_var(&newmask, GFP_KERNEL))
-		return -ENOMEM;
-
-	ret = cpulist_parse(buf, newmask);
-	if (!ret) {
-		spin_lock_bh(&bdi->wb_lock);
-		task = wb->task;
-		if (task)
-			get_task_struct(task);
-		spin_unlock_bh(&bdi->wb_lock);
-
-		mutex_lock(&bdi->flusher_cpumask_lock);
-		if (task) {
-			ret = set_cpus_allowed_ptr(task, newmask);
-			put_task_struct(task);
-		}
-		if (ret == 0) {
-			cpumask_copy(bdi->flusher_cpumask, newmask);
-			ret = count;
-		}
-		mutex_unlock(&bdi->flusher_cpumask_lock);
-
-	}
-	free_cpumask_var(newmask);
-
-	return ret;
-}
-
-static ssize_t cpu_list_show(struct device *dev,
-		struct device_attribute *attr, char *page)
-{
-	struct backing_dev_info *bdi = dev_get_drvdata(dev);
-	ssize_t ret;
-
-	mutex_lock(&bdi->flusher_cpumask_lock);
-	ret = cpulist_scnprintf(page, PAGE_SIZE-1, bdi->flusher_cpumask);
-	mutex_unlock(&bdi->flusher_cpumask_lock);
-
-	return ret;
-}
-
 #define __ATTR_RW(attr) __ATTR(attr, 0644, attr##_show, attr##_store)
 
 static struct device_attribute bdi_dev_attrs[] = {
 	__ATTR_RW(read_ahead_kb),
 	__ATTR_RW(min_ratio),
 	__ATTR_RW(max_ratio),
-	__ATTR_RW(cpu_list),
 	__ATTR_NULL,
 };
 
@@ -480,7 +428,6 @@ static int bdi_forker_thread(void *ptr)
 				writeback_inodes_wb(&bdi->wb, 1024,
 						    WB_REASON_FORKER_THREAD);
 			} else {
-				int ret;
 				/*
 				 * The spinlock makes sure we do not lose
 				 * wake-ups when racing with 'bdi_queue_work()'.
@@ -490,14 +437,6 @@ static int bdi_forker_thread(void *ptr)
 				spin_lock_bh(&bdi->wb_lock);
 				bdi->wb.task = task;
 				spin_unlock_bh(&bdi->wb_lock);
-				mutex_lock(&bdi->flusher_cpumask_lock);
-				ret = set_cpus_allowed_ptr(task,
-							bdi->flusher_cpumask);
-				mutex_unlock(&bdi->flusher_cpumask_lock);
-				if (ret)
-					printk_once("%s: failed to bind flusher"
-						    " thread %s, error %d\n",
-						    __func__, task->comm, ret);
 				wake_up_process(task);
 			}
 			bdi_clear_pending(bdi);
@@ -570,17 +509,6 @@ int bdi_register(struct backing_dev_info *bdi, struct device *parent,
 						dev_name(dev));
 		if (IS_ERR(wb->task))
 			return PTR_ERR(wb->task);
-	} else {
-		int node;
-		/*
-		 * Set up a default cpumask for the flusher threads that
-		 * includes all cpus on the same numa node as the device.
-		 * The mask may be overridden via sysfs.
-		 */
-		node = dev_to_node(bdi->dev);
-		if (node != NUMA_NO_NODE)
-			cpumask_copy(bdi->flusher_cpumask,
-				     cpumask_of_node(node));
 	}
 
 	bdi_debug_register(bdi, dev_name(dev));
@@ -706,15 +634,6 @@ int bdi_init(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
 
 	bdi_wb_init(&bdi->wb, bdi);
 
-	if (!bdi_cap_flush_forker(bdi)) {
-		bdi->flusher_cpumask = kmalloc(sizeof(cpumask_t), GFP_KERNEL);
-		if (!bdi->flusher_cpumask)
-			return -ENOMEM;
-		cpumask_setall(bdi->flusher_cpumask);
-		mutex_init(&bdi->flusher_cpumask_lock);
-	} else
-		bdi->flusher_cpumask = NULL;
-
 	for (i = 0; i < NR_BDI_STAT_ITEMS; i++) {
 		err = percpu_counter_init(&bdi->bdi_stat[i], 0);
 		if (err)
@@ -737,7 +656,6 @@ int bdi_init(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
 err:
 		while (i--)
 			percpu_counter_destroy(&bdi->bdi_stat[i]);
-		kfree(bdi->flusher_cpumask);
 	}
 
 	return err;
@@ -765,8 +683,6 @@ void bdi_destroy(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
 
 	bdi_unregister(bdi);
 
-	kfree(bdi->flusher_cpumask);
-
 	/*
 	 * If bdi_unregister() had already been called earlier, the
 	 * wakeup_timer could still be armed because bdi_prune_sb()