diff --git a/fs/eventpoll.c b/fs/eventpoll.c
index 810c28fb8c3c..584249454822 100644
--- a/fs/eventpoll.c
+++ b/fs/eventpoll.c
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 #include <linux/proc_fs.h>
 #include <linux/seq_file.h>
 #include <linux/compat.h>
+#include <linux/rculist.h>
 
 /*
  * LOCKING:
@@ -133,8 +134,12 @@ struct nested_calls {
  * of these on a server and we do not want this to take another cache line.
  */
 struct epitem {
-	/* RB tree node used to link this structure to the eventpoll RB tree */
-	struct rb_node rbn;
+	union {
+		/* RB tree node links this structure to the eventpoll RB tree */
+		struct rb_node rbn;
+		/* Used to free the struct epitem */
+		struct rcu_head rcu;
+	};
 
 	/* List header used to link this structure to the eventpoll ready list */
 	struct list_head rdllink;
@@ -671,6 +676,12 @@ static int ep_scan_ready_list(struct eventpoll *ep,
 	return error;
 }
 
+static void epi_rcu_free(struct rcu_head *head)
+{
+	struct epitem *epi = container_of(head, struct epitem, rcu);
+	kmem_cache_free(epi_cache, epi);
+}
+
 /*
  * Removes a "struct epitem" from the eventpoll RB tree and deallocates
  * all the associated resources. Must be called with "mtx" held.
@@ -692,8 +703,7 @@ static int ep_remove(struct eventpoll *ep, struct epitem *epi)
 
 	/* Remove the current item from the list of epoll hooks */
 	spin_lock(&file->f_lock);
-	if (ep_is_linked(&epi->fllink))
-		list_del_init(&epi->fllink);
+	list_del_rcu(&epi->fllink);
 	spin_unlock(&file->f_lock);
 
 	rb_erase(&epi->rbn, &ep->rbr);
@@ -704,9 +714,14 @@ static int ep_remove(struct eventpoll *ep, struct epitem *epi)
 	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&ep->lock, flags);
 
 	wakeup_source_unregister(ep_wakeup_source(epi));
-
-	/* At this point it is safe to free the eventpoll item */
-	kmem_cache_free(epi_cache, epi);
+	/*
+	 * At this point it is safe to free the eventpoll item. Use the union
+	 * field epi->rcu, since we are trying to minimize the size of
+	 * 'struct epitem'. The 'rbn' field is no longer in use. Protected by
+	 * ep->mtx. The rcu read side, reverse_path_check_proc(), does not make
+	 * use of the rbn field.
+	 */
+	call_rcu(&epi->rcu, epi_rcu_free);
 
 	atomic_long_dec(&ep->user->epoll_watches);
 
@@ -872,7 +887,6 @@ static const struct file_operations eventpoll_fops = {
  */
 void eventpoll_release_file(struct file *file)
 {
-	struct list_head *lsthead = &file->f_ep_links;
 	struct eventpoll *ep;
 	struct epitem *epi;
 
@@ -890,17 +904,12 @@ void eventpoll_release_file(struct file *file)
 	 * Besides, ep_remove() acquires the lock, so we can't hold it here.
 	 */
 	mutex_lock(&epmutex);
-
-	while (!list_empty(lsthead)) {
-		epi = list_first_entry(lsthead, struct epitem, fllink);
-
+	list_for_each_entry_rcu(epi, &file->f_ep_links, fllink) {
 		ep = epi->ep;
-		list_del_init(&epi->fllink);
 		mutex_lock_nested(&ep->mtx, 0);
 		ep_remove(ep, epi);
 		mutex_unlock(&ep->mtx);
 	}
-
 	mutex_unlock(&epmutex);
 }
 
@@ -1138,7 +1147,9 @@ static int reverse_path_check_proc(void *priv, void *cookie, int call_nests)
 	struct file *child_file;
 	struct epitem *epi;
 
-	list_for_each_entry(epi, &file->f_ep_links, fllink) {
+	/* CTL_DEL can remove links here, but that can't increase our count */
+	rcu_read_lock();
+	list_for_each_entry_rcu(epi, &file->f_ep_links, fllink) {
 		child_file = epi->ep->file;
 		if (is_file_epoll(child_file)) {
 			if (list_empty(&child_file->f_ep_links)) {
@@ -1160,6 +1171,7 @@ static int reverse_path_check_proc(void *priv, void *cookie, int call_nests)
 				"file is not an ep!\n");
 		}
 	}
+	rcu_read_unlock();
 	return error;
 }
 
@@ -1286,7 +1298,7 @@ static int ep_insert(struct eventpoll *ep, struct epoll_event *event,
 
 	/* Add the current item to the list of active epoll hook for this file */
 	spin_lock(&tfile->f_lock);
-	list_add_tail(&epi->fllink, &tfile->f_ep_links);
+	list_add_tail_rcu(&epi->fllink, &tfile->f_ep_links);
 	spin_unlock(&tfile->f_lock);
 
 	/*
@@ -1327,8 +1339,7 @@ static int ep_insert(struct eventpoll *ep, struct epoll_event *event,
 
 error_remove_epi:
 	spin_lock(&tfile->f_lock);
-	if (ep_is_linked(&epi->fllink))
-		list_del_init(&epi->fllink);
+	list_del_rcu(&epi->fllink);
 	spin_unlock(&tfile->f_lock);
 
 	rb_erase(&epi->rbn, &ep->rbr);
@@ -1844,15 +1855,12 @@ SYSCALL_DEFINE4(epoll_ctl, int, epfd, int, op, int, fd,
 	 * and hang them on the tfile_check_list, so we can check that we
 	 * haven't created too many possible wakeup paths.
 	 *
-	 * We need to hold the epmutex across both ep_insert and ep_remove
-	 * b/c we want to make sure we are looking at a coherent view of
-	 * epoll network.
+	 * We need to hold the epmutex across ep_insert to prevent
+	 * multple adds from creating loops in parallel.
 	 */
-	if (op == EPOLL_CTL_ADD || op == EPOLL_CTL_DEL) {
+	if (op == EPOLL_CTL_ADD) {
 		mutex_lock(&epmutex);
 		did_lock_epmutex = 1;
-	}
-	if (op == EPOLL_CTL_ADD) {
 		if (is_file_epoll(tf.file)) {
 			error = -ELOOP;
 			if (ep_loop_check(ep, tf.file) != 0) {