diff --git a/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_int.h b/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_int.h
index f27d5b0f9a0b..f804b1bfb3e6 100644
--- a/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_int.h
+++ b/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_int.h
@@ -638,9 +638,6 @@ enum {
 	STATE_SENT,		/* Do not change state/UUIDs while this is set */
 	CALLBACK_PENDING,	/* Whether we have a call_usermodehelper(, UMH_WAIT_PROC)
 				 * pending, from drbd worker context.
-				 * If set, bdi_write_congested() returns true,
-				 * so shrink_page_list() would not recurse into,
-				 * and potentially deadlock on, this drbd worker.
 				 */
 	DISCONNECT_SENT,
 
diff --git a/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_req.c b/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_req.c
index 3235532ae077..2e5fb7e442e3 100644
--- a/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_req.c
+++ b/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_req.c
@@ -909,8 +909,7 @@ static bool remote_due_to_read_balancing(struct drbd_device *device, sector_t se
 
 	switch (rbm) {
 	case RB_CONGESTED_REMOTE:
-		return bdi_read_congested(
-			device->ldev->backing_bdev->bd_disk->bdi);
+		return 0;
 	case RB_LEAST_PENDING:
 		return atomic_read(&device->local_cnt) >
 			atomic_read(&device->ap_pending_cnt) + atomic_read(&device->rs_pending_cnt);
diff --git a/fs/ext2/ialloc.c b/fs/ext2/ialloc.c
index df14e750e9fe..d632764da240 100644
--- a/fs/ext2/ialloc.c
+++ b/fs/ext2/ialloc.c
@@ -173,8 +173,6 @@ static void ext2_preread_inode(struct inode *inode)
 	struct backing_dev_info *bdi;
 
 	bdi = inode_to_bdi(inode);
-	if (bdi_rw_congested(bdi))
-		return;
 
 	block_group = (inode->i_ino - 1) / EXT2_INODES_PER_GROUP(inode->i_sb);
 	gdp = ext2_get_group_desc(inode->i_sb, block_group, NULL);
diff --git a/fs/nilfs2/segbuf.c b/fs/nilfs2/segbuf.c
index 43287b0d3e9b..d1ebc9da7130 100644
--- a/fs/nilfs2/segbuf.c
+++ b/fs/nilfs2/segbuf.c
@@ -343,17 +343,6 @@ static int nilfs_segbuf_submit_bio(struct nilfs_segment_buffer *segbuf,
 	struct bio *bio = wi->bio;
 	int err;
 
-	if (segbuf->sb_nbio > 0 &&
-	    bdi_write_congested(segbuf->sb_super->s_bdi)) {
-		wait_for_completion(&segbuf->sb_bio_event);
-		segbuf->sb_nbio--;
-		if (unlikely(atomic_read(&segbuf->sb_err))) {
-			bio_put(bio);
-			err = -EIO;
-			goto failed;
-		}
-	}
-
 	bio->bi_end_io = nilfs_end_bio_write;
 	bio->bi_private = segbuf;
 	bio_set_op_attrs(bio, mode, mode_flags);
diff --git a/fs/xfs/xfs_buf.c b/fs/xfs/xfs_buf.c
index b45e0d50a405..b7ebcfe6b8d3 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/xfs_buf.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/xfs_buf.c
@@ -843,9 +843,6 @@ xfs_buf_readahead_map(
 {
 	struct xfs_buf		*bp;
 
-	if (bdi_read_congested(target->bt_bdev->bd_disk->bdi))
-		return;
-
 	xfs_buf_read_map(target, map, nmaps,
 		     XBF_TRYLOCK | XBF_ASYNC | XBF_READ_AHEAD, &bp, ops,
 		     __this_address);
diff --git a/include/linux/backing-dev.h b/include/linux/backing-dev.h
index 860b675c2929..2d764566280c 100644
--- a/include/linux/backing-dev.h
+++ b/include/linux/backing-dev.h
@@ -135,11 +135,6 @@ static inline bool writeback_in_progress(struct bdi_writeback *wb)
 
 struct backing_dev_info *inode_to_bdi(struct inode *inode);
 
-static inline int wb_congested(struct bdi_writeback *wb, int cong_bits)
-{
-	return wb->congested & cong_bits;
-}
-
 long congestion_wait(int sync, long timeout);
 
 static inline bool mapping_can_writeback(struct address_space *mapping)
@@ -391,27 +386,6 @@ static inline void wb_blkcg_offline(struct blkcg *blkcg)
 
 #endif	/* CONFIG_CGROUP_WRITEBACK */
 
-static inline int bdi_congested(struct backing_dev_info *bdi, int cong_bits)
-{
-	return wb_congested(&bdi->wb, cong_bits);
-}
-
-static inline int bdi_read_congested(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
-{
-	return bdi_congested(bdi, 1 << WB_sync_congested);
-}
-
-static inline int bdi_write_congested(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
-{
-	return bdi_congested(bdi, 1 << WB_async_congested);
-}
-
-static inline int bdi_rw_congested(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
-{
-	return bdi_congested(bdi, (1 << WB_sync_congested) |
-				  (1 << WB_async_congested));
-}
-
 const char *bdi_dev_name(struct backing_dev_info *bdi);
 
 #endif	/* _LINUX_BACKING_DEV_H */
diff --git a/mm/vmscan.c b/mm/vmscan.c
index ce8492939bd3..0b930556c4f2 100644
--- a/mm/vmscan.c
+++ b/mm/vmscan.c
@@ -2362,9 +2362,7 @@ static unsigned int move_pages_to_lru(struct lruvec *lruvec,
  */
 static int current_may_throttle(void)
 {
-	return !(current->flags & PF_LOCAL_THROTTLE) ||
-		current->backing_dev_info == NULL ||
-		bdi_write_congested(current->backing_dev_info);
+	return !(current->flags & PF_LOCAL_THROTTLE);
 }
 
 /*
