diff --git a/drivers/spi/spi-atmel.c b/drivers/spi/spi-atmel.c
index 74fddcd3282b..f53f0c5e63da 100644
--- a/drivers/spi/spi-atmel.c
+++ b/drivers/spi/spi-atmel.c
@@ -23,8 +23,7 @@
 #include <linux/of.h>
 
 #include <linux/io.h>
-#include <linux/gpio.h>
-#include <linux/of_gpio.h>
+#include <linux/gpio/consumer.h>
 #include <linux/pinctrl/consumer.h>
 #include <linux/pm_runtime.h>
 
@@ -312,7 +311,7 @@ struct atmel_spi {
 
 /* Controller-specific per-slave state */
 struct atmel_spi_device {
-	unsigned int		npcs_pin;
+	struct gpio_desc	*npcs_pin;
 	u32			csr;
 };
 
@@ -355,7 +354,6 @@ static bool atmel_spi_is_v2(struct atmel_spi *as)
 static void cs_activate(struct atmel_spi *as, struct spi_device *spi)
 {
 	struct atmel_spi_device *asd = spi->controller_state;
-	unsigned active = spi->mode & SPI_CS_HIGH;
 	u32 mr;
 
 	if (atmel_spi_is_v2(as)) {
@@ -379,7 +377,7 @@ static void cs_activate(struct atmel_spi *as, struct spi_device *spi)
 
 		mr = spi_readl(as, MR);
 		if (as->use_cs_gpios)
-			gpio_set_value(asd->npcs_pin, active);
+			gpiod_set_value(asd->npcs_pin, 1);
 	} else {
 		u32 cpol = (spi->mode & SPI_CPOL) ? SPI_BIT(CPOL) : 0;
 		int i;
@@ -396,19 +394,16 @@ static void cs_activate(struct atmel_spi *as, struct spi_device *spi)
 		mr = spi_readl(as, MR);
 		mr = SPI_BFINS(PCS, ~(1 << spi->chip_select), mr);
 		if (as->use_cs_gpios && spi->chip_select != 0)
-			gpio_set_value(asd->npcs_pin, active);
+			gpiod_set_value(asd->npcs_pin, 1);
 		spi_writel(as, MR, mr);
 	}
 
-	dev_dbg(&spi->dev, "activate %u%s, mr %08x\n",
-			asd->npcs_pin, active ? " (high)" : "",
-			mr);
+	dev_dbg(&spi->dev, "activate NPCS, mr %08x\n", mr);
 }
 
 static void cs_deactivate(struct atmel_spi *as, struct spi_device *spi)
 {
 	struct atmel_spi_device *asd = spi->controller_state;
-	unsigned active = spi->mode & SPI_CS_HIGH;
 	u32 mr;
 
 	/* only deactivate *this* device; sometimes transfers to
@@ -420,14 +415,12 @@ static void cs_deactivate(struct atmel_spi *as, struct spi_device *spi)
 		spi_writel(as, MR, mr);
 	}
 
-	dev_dbg(&spi->dev, "DEactivate %u%s, mr %08x\n",
-			asd->npcs_pin, active ? " (low)" : "",
-			mr);
+	dev_dbg(&spi->dev, "DEactivate NPCS, mr %08x\n", mr);
 
 	if (!as->use_cs_gpios)
 		spi_writel(as, CR, SPI_BIT(LASTXFER));
 	else if (atmel_spi_is_v2(as) || spi->chip_select != 0)
-		gpio_set_value(asd->npcs_pin, !active);
+		gpiod_set_value(asd->npcs_pin, 0);
 }
 
 static void atmel_spi_lock(struct atmel_spi *as) __acquires(&as->lock)
@@ -1188,7 +1181,6 @@ static int atmel_spi_setup(struct spi_device *spi)
 	struct atmel_spi_device	*asd;
 	u32			csr;
 	unsigned int		bits = spi->bits_per_word;
-	unsigned int		npcs_pin;
 
 	as = spi_master_get_devdata(spi->master);
 
@@ -1217,25 +1209,27 @@ static int atmel_spi_setup(struct spi_device *spi)
 	csr |= SPI_BF(DLYBS, 0);
 	csr |= SPI_BF(DLYBCT, 0);
 
-	/* chipselect must have been muxed as GPIO (e.g. in board setup) */
-	npcs_pin = (unsigned long)spi->controller_data;
-
-	if (!as->use_cs_gpios)
-		npcs_pin = spi->chip_select;
-	else if (gpio_is_valid(spi->cs_gpio))
-		npcs_pin = spi->cs_gpio;
-
 	asd = spi->controller_state;
 	if (!asd) {
 		asd = kzalloc(sizeof(struct atmel_spi_device), GFP_KERNEL);
 		if (!asd)
 			return -ENOMEM;
 
-		if (as->use_cs_gpios)
-			gpio_direction_output(npcs_pin,
-					      !(spi->mode & SPI_CS_HIGH));
+		/*
+		 * If use_cs_gpios is true this means that we have "cs-gpios"
+		 * defined in the device tree node so we should have
+		 * gotten the GPIO lines from the device tree inside the
+		 * SPI core. Warn if this is not the case but continue since
+		 * CS GPIOs are after all optional.
+		 */
+		if (as->use_cs_gpios) {
+			if (!spi->cs_gpiod) {
+				dev_err(&spi->dev,
+					"host claims to use CS GPIOs but no CS found in DT by the SPI core\n");
+			}
+			asd->npcs_pin = spi->cs_gpiod;
+		}
 
-		asd->npcs_pin = npcs_pin;
 		spi->controller_state = asd;
 	}
 
@@ -1473,41 +1467,6 @@ static void atmel_get_caps(struct atmel_spi *as)
 	as->caps.has_pdc_support = version < 0x212;
 }
 
-/*-------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
-static int atmel_spi_gpio_cs(struct platform_device *pdev)
-{
-	struct spi_master	*master = platform_get_drvdata(pdev);
-	struct atmel_spi	*as = spi_master_get_devdata(master);
-	struct device_node	*np = master->dev.of_node;
-	int			i;
-	int			ret = 0;
-	int			nb = 0;
-
-	if (!as->use_cs_gpios)
-		return 0;
-
-	if (!np)
-		return 0;
-
-	nb = of_gpio_named_count(np, "cs-gpios");
-	for (i = 0; i < nb; i++) {
-		int cs_gpio = of_get_named_gpio(pdev->dev.of_node,
-						"cs-gpios", i);
-
-		if (cs_gpio == -EPROBE_DEFER)
-			return cs_gpio;
-
-		if (gpio_is_valid(cs_gpio)) {
-			ret = devm_gpio_request(&pdev->dev, cs_gpio,
-						dev_name(&pdev->dev));
-			if (ret)
-				return ret;
-		}
-	}
-
-	return 0;
-}
-
 static void atmel_spi_init(struct atmel_spi *as)
 {
 	spi_writel(as, CR, SPI_BIT(SWRST));
@@ -1560,6 +1519,7 @@ static int atmel_spi_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 		goto out_free;
 
 	/* the spi->mode bits understood by this driver: */
+	master->use_gpio_descriptors = true;
 	master->mode_bits = SPI_CPOL | SPI_CPHA | SPI_CS_HIGH;
 	master->bits_per_word_mask = SPI_BPW_RANGE_MASK(8, 16);
 	master->dev.of_node = pdev->dev.of_node;
@@ -1592,6 +1552,11 @@ static int atmel_spi_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 
 	atmel_get_caps(as);
 
+	/*
+	 * If there are chip selects in the device tree, those will be
+	 * discovered by the SPI core when registering the SPI master
+	 * and assigned to each SPI device.
+	 */
 	as->use_cs_gpios = true;
 	if (atmel_spi_is_v2(as) &&
 	    pdev->dev.of_node &&
@@ -1600,10 +1565,6 @@ static int atmel_spi_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 		master->num_chipselect = 4;
 	}
 
-	ret = atmel_spi_gpio_cs(pdev);
-	if (ret)
-		goto out_unmap_regs;
-
 	as->use_dma = false;
 	as->use_pdc = false;
 	if (as->caps.has_dma_support) {
