diff --git a/Documentation/pinctrl.txt b/Documentation/pinctrl.txt
index 366e605..0fb4912 100644
--- a/Documentation/pinctrl.txt
+++ b/Documentation/pinctrl.txt
@@ -825,10 +825,7 @@ must match a function provided by the pinmux driver handling this pin range.
 
 As you can see we may have several pin controllers on the system and thus
 we need to specify which one of them that contain the functions we wish
-to map. The map can also use struct device * directly, so there is no
-inherent need to use strings to specify .dev_name or .ctrl_dev_name, these
-are for the situation where you do not have a handle to the struct device *,
-for example if they are not yet instantiated or cumbersome to obtain.
+to map.
 
 You register this pinmux mapping to the pinmux subsystem by simply:
 
diff --git a/drivers/pinctrl/core.c b/drivers/pinctrl/core.c
index 894cd5e..4f10476 100644
--- a/drivers/pinctrl/core.c
+++ b/drivers/pinctrl/core.c
@@ -48,31 +48,23 @@ void *pinctrl_dev_get_drvdata(struct pinctrl_dev *pctldev)
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(pinctrl_dev_get_drvdata);
 
 /**
- * get_pinctrl_dev_from_dev() - look up pin controller device
- * @dev: a device pointer, this may be NULL but then devname needs to be
- *	defined instead
- * @devname: the name of a device instance, as returned by dev_name(), this
- *	may be NULL but then dev needs to be defined instead
+ * get_pinctrl_dev_from_devname() - look up pin controller device
+ * @devname: the name of a device instance, as returned by dev_name()
  *
  * Looks up a pin control device matching a certain device name or pure device
  * pointer, the pure device pointer will take precedence.
  */
-struct pinctrl_dev *get_pinctrl_dev_from_dev(struct device *dev,
-					     const char *devname)
+struct pinctrl_dev *get_pinctrl_dev_from_devname(const char *devname)
 {
 	struct pinctrl_dev *pctldev = NULL;
 	bool found = false;
 
+	if (!devname)
+		return NULL;
+
 	mutex_lock(&pinctrldev_list_mutex);
 	list_for_each_entry(pctldev, &pinctrldev_list, node) {
-		if (dev && pctldev->dev == dev) {
-			/* Matched on device pointer */
-			found = true;
-			break;
-		}
-
-		if (devname &&
-		    !strcmp(dev_name(pctldev->dev), devname)) {
+		if (!strcmp(dev_name(pctldev->dev), devname)) {
 			/* Matched on device name */
 			found = true;
 			break;
diff --git a/drivers/pinctrl/core.h b/drivers/pinctrl/core.h
index cfa86da..8a8b02e 100644
--- a/drivers/pinctrl/core.h
+++ b/drivers/pinctrl/core.h
@@ -72,8 +72,7 @@ struct pin_desc {
 #endif
 };
 
-struct pinctrl_dev *get_pinctrl_dev_from_dev(struct device *dev,
-					     const char *dev_name);
+struct pinctrl_dev *get_pinctrl_dev_from_devname(const char *dev_name);
 struct pin_desc *pin_desc_get(struct pinctrl_dev *pctldev, unsigned int pin);
 int pin_get_from_name(struct pinctrl_dev *pctldev, const char *name);
 int pinctrl_get_device_gpio_range(unsigned gpio,
diff --git a/drivers/pinctrl/pinconf.c b/drivers/pinctrl/pinconf.c
index e7adde4..0309bce 100644
--- a/drivers/pinctrl/pinconf.c
+++ b/drivers/pinctrl/pinconf.c
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ int pin_config_get(const char *dev_name, const char *name,
 	struct pinctrl_dev *pctldev;
 	int pin;
 
-	pctldev = get_pinctrl_dev_from_dev(NULL, dev_name);
+	pctldev = get_pinctrl_dev_from_devname(dev_name);
 	if (!pctldev)
 		return -EINVAL;
 
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ int pin_config_set(const char *dev_name, const char *name,
 	struct pinctrl_dev *pctldev;
 	int pin;
 
-	pctldev = get_pinctrl_dev_from_dev(NULL, dev_name);
+	pctldev = get_pinctrl_dev_from_devname(dev_name);
 	if (!pctldev)
 		return -EINVAL;
 
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ int pin_config_group_get(const char *dev_name, const char *pin_group,
 	const struct pinconf_ops *ops;
 	int selector;
 
-	pctldev = get_pinctrl_dev_from_dev(NULL, dev_name);
+	pctldev = get_pinctrl_dev_from_devname(dev_name);
 	if (!pctldev)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	ops = pctldev->desc->confops;
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ int pin_config_group_set(const char *dev_name, const char *pin_group,
 	int ret;
 	int i;
 
-	pctldev = get_pinctrl_dev_from_dev(NULL, dev_name);
+	pctldev = get_pinctrl_dev_from_devname(dev_name);
 	if (!pctldev)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	ops = pctldev->desc->confops;
diff --git a/drivers/pinctrl/pinmux.c b/drivers/pinctrl/pinmux.c
index 7c3193f..1311f1d 100644
--- a/drivers/pinctrl/pinmux.c
+++ b/drivers/pinctrl/pinmux.c
@@ -354,7 +354,7 @@ int __init pinmux_register_mappings(struct pinmux_map const *maps,
 			return -EINVAL;
 		}
 
-		if (!maps[i].ctrl_dev && !maps[i].ctrl_dev_name) {
+		if (!maps[i].ctrl_dev_name) {
 			pr_err("failed to register map %s (%d): no pin control device given\n",
 			       maps[i].name, i);
 			return -EINVAL;
@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@ int __init pinmux_register_mappings(struct pinmux_map const *maps,
 			return -EINVAL;
 		}
 
-		if (!maps[i].dev && !maps[i].dev_name)
+		if (!maps[i].dev_name)
 			pr_debug("add system map %s function %s with no device\n",
 				 maps[i].name,
 				 maps[i].function);
@@ -721,20 +721,12 @@ struct pinmux *pinmux_get(struct device *dev, const char *name)
 		/*
 		 * First, try to find the pctldev given in the map
 		 */
-		pctldev = get_pinctrl_dev_from_dev(map->ctrl_dev,
-						   map->ctrl_dev_name);
+		pctldev = get_pinctrl_dev_from_devname(map->ctrl_dev_name);
 		if (!pctldev) {
-			const char *devname = NULL;
-
-			if (map->ctrl_dev)
-				devname = dev_name(map->ctrl_dev);
-			else if (map->ctrl_dev_name)
-				devname = map->ctrl_dev_name;
-
 			pr_warning("could not find a pinctrl device for pinmux function %s, fishy, they shall all have one\n",
 				   map->function);
 			pr_warning("given pinctrl device name: %s",
-				   devname ? devname : "UNDEFINED");
+				   map->ctrl_dev_name);
 
 			/* Continue to check the other mappings anyway... */
 			continue;
@@ -925,7 +917,7 @@ static int pinmux_hog_map(struct pinctrl_dev *pctldev,
 	struct pinmux *pmx;
 	int ret;
 
-	if (map->dev || map->dev_name) {
+	if (map->dev_name) {
 		/*
 		 * TODO: the day we have device tree support, we can
 		 * traverse the device tree and hog to specific device nodes
@@ -996,9 +988,8 @@ int pinmux_hog_maps(struct pinctrl_dev *pctldev)
 		if (!map->hog_on_boot)
 			continue;
 
-		if ((map->ctrl_dev == dev) ||
-			(map->ctrl_dev_name &&
-				!strcmp(map->ctrl_dev_name, devname))) {
+		if (map->ctrl_dev_name &&
+		    !strcmp(map->ctrl_dev_name, devname)) {
 			/* OK time to hog! */
 			ret = pinmux_hog_map(pctldev, map);
 			if (ret)
@@ -1156,14 +1147,12 @@ static int pinmux_maps_show(struct seq_file *s, void *what)
 		struct pinmux_map const *map = &pinmux_maps[i];
 
 		seq_printf(s, "%s:\n", map->name);
-		if (map->dev || map->dev_name)
+		if (map->dev_name)
 			seq_printf(s, "  device: %s\n",
-				   map->dev ? dev_name(map->dev) :
 				   map->dev_name);
 		else
 			seq_printf(s, "  SYSTEM MUX\n");
 		seq_printf(s, "  controlling device %s\n",
-			   map->ctrl_dev ? dev_name(map->ctrl_dev) :
 			   map->ctrl_dev_name);
 		seq_printf(s, "  function: %s\n", map->function);
 		seq_printf(s, "  group: %s\n", map->group ? map->group :
diff --git a/include/linux/pinctrl/machine.h b/include/linux/pinctrl/machine.h
index d0aecb7..f8593fd 100644
--- a/include/linux/pinctrl/machine.h
+++ b/include/linux/pinctrl/machine.h
@@ -17,22 +17,16 @@
  * @name: the name of this specific map entry for the particular machine.
  *	This is the second parameter passed to pinmux_get() when you want
  *	to have several mappings to the same device
- * @ctrl_dev: the pin control device to be used by this mapping, may be NULL
- *	if you provide .ctrl_dev_name instead (this is more common)
  * @ctrl_dev_name: the name of the device controlling this specific mapping,
- *	the name must be the same as in your struct device*, may be NULL if
- *	you provide .ctrl_dev instead
+ *	the name must be the same as in your struct device*
  * @function: a function in the driver to use for this mapping, the driver
  *	will lookup the function referenced by this ID on the specified
  *	pin control device
  * @group: sometimes a function can map to different pin groups, so this
  *	selects a certain specific pin group to activate for the function, if
  *	left as NULL, the first applicable group will be used
- * @dev: the device using this specific mapping, may be NULL if you provide
- *	.dev_name instead (this is more common)
  * @dev_name: the name of the device using this specific mapping, the name
- *	must be the same as in your struct device*, may be NULL if you
- *	provide .dev instead
+ *	must be the same as in your struct device*
  * @hog_on_boot: if this is set to true, the pin control subsystem will itself
  *	hog the mappings as the pinmux device drivers are attached, so this is
  *	typically used with system maps (mux mappings without an assigned
@@ -42,11 +36,9 @@
  */
 struct pinmux_map {
 	const char *name;
-	struct device *ctrl_dev;
 	const char *ctrl_dev_name;
 	const char *function;
 	const char *group;
-	struct device *dev;
 	const char *dev_name;
 	bool hog_on_boot;
 };
