diff --git a/fs/f2fs/acl.c b/fs/f2fs/acl.c
index 2bb7c9fc5144..111824199a88 100644
--- a/fs/f2fs/acl.c
+++ b/fs/f2fs/acl.c
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ static struct posix_acl *f2fs_acl_clone(const struct posix_acl *acl,
 				sizeof(struct posix_acl_entry);
 		clone = kmemdup(acl, size, flags);
 		if (clone)
-			atomic_set(&clone->a_refcount, 1);
+			refcount_set(&clone->a_refcount, 1);
 	}
 	return clone;
 }
diff --git a/fs/posix_acl.c b/fs/posix_acl.c
index eebf5f6cf6d5..2fd0fde16fe1 100644
--- a/fs/posix_acl.c
+++ b/fs/posix_acl.c
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ struct posix_acl *get_cached_acl(struct inode *inode, int type)
 		rcu_read_lock();
 		acl = rcu_dereference(*p);
 		if (!acl || is_uncached_acl(acl) ||
-		    atomic_inc_not_zero(&acl->a_refcount))
+		    refcount_inc_not_zero(&acl->a_refcount))
 			break;
 		rcu_read_unlock();
 		cpu_relax();
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(get_acl);
 void
 posix_acl_init(struct posix_acl *acl, int count)
 {
-	atomic_set(&acl->a_refcount, 1);
+	refcount_set(&acl->a_refcount, 1);
 	acl->a_count = count;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(posix_acl_init);
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ posix_acl_clone(const struct posix_acl *acl, gfp_t flags)
 		           sizeof(struct posix_acl_entry);
 		clone = kmemdup(acl, size, flags);
 		if (clone)
-			atomic_set(&clone->a_refcount, 1);
+			refcount_set(&clone->a_refcount, 1);
 	}
 	return clone;
 }
diff --git a/include/linux/posix_acl.h b/include/linux/posix_acl.h
index b2b7255ec7f5..540595a321a7 100644
--- a/include/linux/posix_acl.h
+++ b/include/linux/posix_acl.h
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #include <linux/bug.h>
 #include <linux/slab.h>
 #include <linux/rcupdate.h>
+#include <linux/refcount.h>
 #include <uapi/linux/posix_acl.h>
 
 struct posix_acl_entry {
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ struct posix_acl_entry {
 };
 
 struct posix_acl {
-	atomic_t		a_refcount;
+	refcount_t		a_refcount;
 	struct rcu_head		a_rcu;
 	unsigned int		a_count;
 	struct posix_acl_entry	a_entries[0];
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ static inline struct posix_acl *
 posix_acl_dup(struct posix_acl *acl)
 {
 	if (acl)
-		atomic_inc(&acl->a_refcount);
+		refcount_inc(&acl->a_refcount);
 	return acl;
 }
 
@@ -51,7 +52,7 @@ posix_acl_dup(struct posix_acl *acl)
 static inline void
 posix_acl_release(struct posix_acl *acl)
 {
-	if (acl && atomic_dec_and_test(&acl->a_refcount))
+	if (acl && refcount_dec_and_test(&acl->a_refcount))
 		kfree_rcu(acl, a_rcu);
 }