diff --git a/fs/fs-writeback.c b/fs/fs-writeback.c
index d0ff0b8cf309..d99601af9e48 100644
--- a/fs/fs-writeback.c
+++ b/fs/fs-writeback.c
@@ -421,9 +421,6 @@ __writeback_single_inode(struct inode *inode, struct writeback_control *wbc)
  * If we're a pdlfush thread, then implement pdflush collision avoidance
  * against the entire list.
  *
- * WB_SYNC_HOLD is a hack for sys_sync(): reattach the inode to sb->s_dirty so
- * that it can be located for waiting on in __writeback_single_inode().
- *
  * If `bdi' is non-zero then we're being asked to writeback a specific queue.
  * This function assumes that the blockdev superblock's inodes are backed by
  * a variety of queues, so all inodes are searched.  For other superblocks,
@@ -499,10 +496,6 @@ void generic_sync_sb_inodes(struct super_block *sb,
 		__iget(inode);
 		pages_skipped = wbc->pages_skipped;
 		__writeback_single_inode(inode, wbc);
-		if (wbc->sync_mode == WB_SYNC_HOLD) {
-			inode->dirtied_when = jiffies;
-			list_move(&inode->i_list, &sb->s_dirty);
-		}
 		if (current_is_pdflush())
 			writeback_release(bdi);
 		if (wbc->pages_skipped != pages_skipped) {
@@ -588,8 +581,7 @@ restart:
 
 /*
  * writeback and wait upon the filesystem's dirty inodes.  The caller will
- * do this in two passes - one to write, and one to wait.  WB_SYNC_HOLD is
- * used to park the written inodes on sb->s_dirty for the wait pass.
+ * do this in two passes - one to write, and one to wait.
  *
  * A finite limit is set on the number of pages which will be written.
  * To prevent infinite livelock of sys_sync().
@@ -600,7 +592,7 @@ restart:
 void sync_inodes_sb(struct super_block *sb, int wait)
 {
 	struct writeback_control wbc = {
-		.sync_mode	= wait ? WB_SYNC_ALL : WB_SYNC_HOLD,
+		.sync_mode	= wait ? WB_SYNC_ALL : WB_SYNC_NONE,
 		.range_start	= 0,
 		.range_end	= LLONG_MAX,
 	};
diff --git a/include/linux/writeback.h b/include/linux/writeback.h
index bb28c975c1d7..7300ecdc480c 100644
--- a/include/linux/writeback.h
+++ b/include/linux/writeback.h
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@ static inline int task_is_pdflush(struct task_struct *task)
 enum writeback_sync_modes {
 	WB_SYNC_NONE,	/* Don't wait on anything */
 	WB_SYNC_ALL,	/* Wait on every mapping */
-	WB_SYNC_HOLD,	/* Hold the inode on sb_dirty for sys_sync() */
 };
 
 /*