diff --git a/fs/nfs/idmap.c b/fs/nfs/idmap.c
index b81e7ed3c902..df0be1214358 100644
--- a/fs/nfs/idmap.c
+++ b/fs/nfs/idmap.c
@@ -130,9 +130,8 @@ nfs_idmap_delete(struct nfs4_client *clp)
 
 	if (!idmap)
 		return;
+	rpc_unlink(idmap->idmap_dentry);
 	dput(idmap->idmap_dentry);
-	idmap->idmap_dentry = NULL;
-	rpc_unlink(idmap->idmap_path);
 	clp->cl_idmap = NULL;
 	kfree(idmap);
 }
diff --git a/include/linux/sunrpc/rpc_pipe_fs.h b/include/linux/sunrpc/rpc_pipe_fs.h
index 2c2189cb30aa..04d2767d5ef7 100644
--- a/include/linux/sunrpc/rpc_pipe_fs.h
+++ b/include/linux/sunrpc/rpc_pipe_fs.h
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ extern int rpc_queue_upcall(struct inode *, struct rpc_pipe_msg *);
 extern struct dentry *rpc_mkdir(char *, struct rpc_clnt *);
 extern int rpc_rmdir(char *);
 extern struct dentry *rpc_mkpipe(char *, void *, struct rpc_pipe_ops *, int flags);
-extern int rpc_unlink(char *);
+extern int rpc_unlink(struct dentry *);
 extern struct vfsmount *rpc_get_mount(void);
 extern void rpc_put_mount(void);
 
diff --git a/net/sunrpc/auth_gss/auth_gss.c b/net/sunrpc/auth_gss/auth_gss.c
index 4a9aa9393b97..beaa7b848246 100644
--- a/net/sunrpc/auth_gss/auth_gss.c
+++ b/net/sunrpc/auth_gss/auth_gss.c
@@ -718,7 +718,7 @@ gss_destroy(struct rpc_auth *auth)
 		auth, auth->au_flavor);
 
 	gss_auth = container_of(auth, struct gss_auth, rpc_auth);
-	rpc_unlink(gss_auth->path);
+	rpc_unlink(gss_auth->dentry);
 	dput(gss_auth->dentry);
 	gss_auth->dentry = NULL;
 	gss_mech_put(gss_auth->mech);
diff --git a/net/sunrpc/rpc_pipe.c b/net/sunrpc/rpc_pipe.c
index a3bd2db2e024..9144f2767b66 100644
--- a/net/sunrpc/rpc_pipe.c
+++ b/net/sunrpc/rpc_pipe.c
@@ -746,22 +746,15 @@ rpc_mkpipe(char *path, void *private, struct rpc_pipe_ops *ops, int flags)
 }
 
 int
-rpc_unlink(char *path)
+rpc_unlink(struct dentry *dentry)
 {
-	struct nameidata nd;
-	struct dentry *dentry;
+	struct dentry *parent;
 	struct inode *dir;
-	int error;
+	int error = 0;
 
-	if ((error = rpc_lookup_parent(path, &nd)) != 0)
-		return error;
-	dir = nd.dentry->d_inode;
+	parent = dget_parent(dentry);
+	dir = parent->d_inode;
 	mutex_lock_nested(&dir->i_mutex, I_MUTEX_PARENT);
-	dentry = lookup_one_len(nd.last.name, nd.dentry, nd.last.len);
-	if (IS_ERR(dentry)) {
-		error = PTR_ERR(dentry);
-		goto out_release;
-	}
 	d_drop(dentry);
 	if (dentry->d_inode) {
 		rpc_close_pipes(dentry->d_inode);
@@ -769,9 +762,8 @@ rpc_unlink(char *path)
 	}
 	dput(dentry);
 	inode_dir_notify(dir, DN_DELETE);
-out_release:
 	mutex_unlock(&dir->i_mutex);
-	rpc_release_path(&nd);
+	dput(parent);
 	return error;
 }