diff --git a/config/spl-build.m4 b/config/spl-build.m4
index 630d67c2d5da..b2a50bf164b9 100644
--- a/config/spl-build.m4
+++ b/config/spl-build.m4
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ AC_DEFUN([SPL_AC_CONFIG_KERNEL], [
 	SPL_AC_USLEEP_RANGE
 	SPL_AC_KMEM_CACHE_ALLOCFLAGS
 	SPL_AC_WAIT_ON_BIT
-	SPL_AC_MUTEX_OWNER
 	SPL_AC_INODE_LOCK
 	SPL_AC_GROUP_INFO_GID
 	SPL_AC_KMEM_CACHE_CREATE_USERCOPY
@@ -1562,35 +1561,6 @@ AC_DEFUN([SPL_AC_WAIT_ON_BIT], [
 	])
 ])
 
-dnl #
-dnl # Check whether mutex has owner with task_struct type.
-dnl #
-dnl # Note that before Linux 3.0, mutex owner is of type thread_info.
-dnl #
-dnl # Note that in Linux 3.18, the condition for owner is changed from
-dnl # defined(CONFIG_DEBUG_MUTEXES) || defined(CONFIG_SMP) to
-dnl # defined(CONFIG_DEBUG_MUTEXES) || defined(CONFIG_MUTEX_SPIN_ON_OWNER)
-dnl #
-AC_DEFUN([SPL_AC_MUTEX_OWNER], [
-	AC_MSG_CHECKING([whether mutex has owner])
-	tmp_flags="$EXTRA_KCFLAGS"
-	EXTRA_KCFLAGS="-Werror"
-	SPL_LINUX_TRY_COMPILE([
-		#include <linux/mutex.h>
-		#include <linux/spinlock.h>
-	],[
-		DEFINE_MUTEX(m);
-		struct task_struct *t __attribute__ ((unused));
-		t = m.owner;
-	],[
-		AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)
-		AC_DEFINE(HAVE_MUTEX_OWNER, 1, [yes])
-	],[
-		AC_MSG_RESULT(no)
-	])
-	EXTRA_KCFLAGS="$tmp_flags"
-])
-
 dnl #
 dnl # 4.7 API change
 dnl # i_mutex is changed to i_rwsem. Instead of directly using
diff --git a/include/sys/mutex.h b/include/sys/mutex.h
index 31923522308e..d6bd99b4c627 100644
--- a/include/sys/mutex.h
+++ b/include/sys/mutex.h
@@ -40,10 +40,8 @@ typedef enum {
 typedef struct {
 	struct mutex		m_mutex;
 	spinlock_t		m_lock;	/* used for serializing mutex_exit */
-#ifndef HAVE_MUTEX_OWNER
 	/* only when kernel doesn't have owner */
 	kthread_t		*m_owner;
-#endif
 #ifdef CONFIG_LOCKDEP
 	kmutex_type_t		m_type;
 #endif /* CONFIG_LOCKDEP */
@@ -58,24 +56,16 @@ spl_mutex_set_owner(kmutex_t *mp)
 	 * kernel will handle its owner, so we don't need to do anything if it
 	 * is defined.
 	 */
-#ifndef HAVE_MUTEX_OWNER
 	mp->m_owner = current;
-#endif
 }
 
 static inline void
 spl_mutex_clear_owner(kmutex_t *mp)
 {
-#ifndef HAVE_MUTEX_OWNER
 	mp->m_owner = NULL;
-#endif
 }
 
-#ifdef HAVE_MUTEX_OWNER
 #define	mutex_owner(mp)		(ACCESS_ONCE(MUTEX(mp)->owner))
-#else
-#define	mutex_owner(mp)		(ACCESS_ONCE((mp)->m_owner))
-#endif
 #define	mutex_owned(mp)		(mutex_owner(mp) == current)
 #define	MUTEX_HELD(mp)		mutex_owned(mp)
 #define	MUTEX_NOT_HELD(mp)	(!MUTEX_HELD(mp))