diff --git a/drivers/block/aoe/aoenet.c b/drivers/block/aoe/aoenet.c
index fdff774b8ab9..c1434ed11880 100644
--- a/drivers/block/aoe/aoenet.c
+++ b/drivers/block/aoe/aoenet.c
@@ -116,8 +116,7 @@ aoenet_rcv(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *ifp, struct packet_type *pt,
 	skb = skb_share_check(skb, GFP_ATOMIC);
 	if (skb == NULL)
 		return 0;
-	if (skb_is_nonlinear(skb))
-	if (skb_linearize(skb, GFP_ATOMIC) < 0)
+	if (skb_linearize(skb))
 		goto exit;
 	if (!is_aoe_netif(ifp))
 		goto exit;
diff --git a/drivers/net/mv643xx_eth.c b/drivers/net/mv643xx_eth.c
index 411f4d809c47..625ff61c9988 100644
--- a/drivers/net/mv643xx_eth.c
+++ b/drivers/net/mv643xx_eth.c
@@ -1200,7 +1200,7 @@ static int mv643xx_eth_start_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 	}
 
 	if (has_tiny_unaligned_frags(skb)) {
-		if ((skb_linearize(skb, GFP_ATOMIC) != 0)) {
+		if (__skb_linearize(skb)) {
 			stats->tx_dropped++;
 			printk(KERN_DEBUG "%s: failed to linearize tiny "
 					"unaligned fragment\n", dev->name);
diff --git a/drivers/net/via-velocity.c b/drivers/net/via-velocity.c
index ed1f837c8fda..2eb6b5f9ba0d 100644
--- a/drivers/net/via-velocity.c
+++ b/drivers/net/via-velocity.c
@@ -1899,6 +1899,13 @@ static int velocity_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 
 	int pktlen = skb->len;
 
+#ifdef VELOCITY_ZERO_COPY_SUPPORT
+	if (skb_shinfo(skb)->nr_frags > 6 && __skb_linearize(skb)) {
+		kfree_skb(skb);
+		return 0;
+	}
+#endif
+
 	spin_lock_irqsave(&vptr->lock, flags);
 
 	index = vptr->td_curr[qnum];
@@ -1914,8 +1921,6 @@ static int velocity_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 	 */
 	if (pktlen < ETH_ZLEN) {
 		/* Cannot occur until ZC support */
-		if(skb_linearize(skb, GFP_ATOMIC))
-			return 0; 
 		pktlen = ETH_ZLEN;
 		memcpy(tdinfo->buf, skb->data, skb->len);
 		memset(tdinfo->buf + skb->len, 0, ETH_ZLEN - skb->len);
@@ -1933,7 +1938,6 @@ static int velocity_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev)
 		int nfrags = skb_shinfo(skb)->nr_frags;
 		tdinfo->skb = skb;
 		if (nfrags > 6) {
-			skb_linearize(skb, GFP_ATOMIC);
 			memcpy(tdinfo->buf, skb->data, skb->len);
 			tdinfo->skb_dma[0] = tdinfo->buf_dma;
 			td_ptr->tdesc0.pktsize = 
diff --git a/include/linux/skbuff.h b/include/linux/skbuff.h
index fe2c58e5306f..830f58fa03a2 100644
--- a/include/linux/skbuff.h
+++ b/include/linux/skbuff.h
@@ -1169,18 +1169,34 @@ static inline int skb_can_coalesce(struct sk_buff *skb, int i,
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static inline int __skb_linearize(struct sk_buff *skb)
+{
+	return __pskb_pull_tail(skb, skb->data_len) ? 0 : -ENOMEM;
+}
+
 /**
  *	skb_linearize - convert paged skb to linear one
  *	@skb: buffer to linarize
- *	@gfp: allocation mode
  *
  *	If there is no free memory -ENOMEM is returned, otherwise zero
  *	is returned and the old skb data released.
  */
-extern int __skb_linearize(struct sk_buff *skb, gfp_t gfp);
-static inline int skb_linearize(struct sk_buff *skb, gfp_t gfp)
+static inline int skb_linearize(struct sk_buff *skb)
 {
-	return __skb_linearize(skb, gfp);
+	return skb_is_nonlinear(skb) ? __skb_linearize(skb) : 0;
+}
+
+/**
+ *	skb_linearize_cow - make sure skb is linear and writable
+ *	@skb: buffer to process
+ *
+ *	If there is no free memory -ENOMEM is returned, otherwise zero
+ *	is returned and the old skb data released.
+ */
+static inline int skb_linearize_cow(struct sk_buff *skb)
+{
+	return skb_is_nonlinear(skb) || skb_cloned(skb) ?
+	       __skb_linearize(skb) : 0;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/net/core/dev.c b/net/core/dev.c
index 1b09f1cae46e..91361bc2b682 100644
--- a/net/core/dev.c
+++ b/net/core/dev.c
@@ -1222,64 +1222,6 @@ static inline int illegal_highdma(struct net_device *dev, struct sk_buff *skb)
 #define illegal_highdma(dev, skb)	(0)
 #endif
 
-/* Keep head the same: replace data */
-int __skb_linearize(struct sk_buff *skb, gfp_t gfp_mask)
-{
-	unsigned int size;
-	u8 *data;
-	long offset;
-	struct skb_shared_info *ninfo;
-	int headerlen = skb->data - skb->head;
-	int expand = (skb->tail + skb->data_len) - skb->end;
-
-	if (skb_shared(skb))
-		BUG();
-
-	if (expand <= 0)
-		expand = 0;
-
-	size = skb->end - skb->head + expand;
-	size = SKB_DATA_ALIGN(size);
-	data = kmalloc(size + sizeof(struct skb_shared_info), gfp_mask);
-	if (!data)
-		return -ENOMEM;
-
-	/* Copy entire thing */
-	if (skb_copy_bits(skb, -headerlen, data, headerlen + skb->len))
-		BUG();
-
-	/* Set up shinfo */
-	ninfo = (struct skb_shared_info*)(data + size);
-	atomic_set(&ninfo->dataref, 1);
-	ninfo->tso_size = skb_shinfo(skb)->tso_size;
-	ninfo->tso_segs = skb_shinfo(skb)->tso_segs;
-	ninfo->nr_frags = 0;
-	ninfo->frag_list = NULL;
-
-	/* Offset between the two in bytes */
-	offset = data - skb->head;
-
-	/* Free old data. */
-	skb_release_data(skb);
-
-	skb->head = data;
-	skb->end  = data + size;
-
-	/* Set up new pointers */
-	skb->h.raw   += offset;
-	skb->nh.raw  += offset;
-	skb->mac.raw += offset;
-	skb->tail    += offset;
-	skb->data    += offset;
-
-	/* We are no longer a clone, even if we were. */
-	skb->cloned    = 0;
-
-	skb->tail     += skb->data_len;
-	skb->data_len  = 0;
-	return 0;
-}
-
 #define HARD_TX_LOCK(dev, cpu) {			\
 	if ((dev->features & NETIF_F_LLTX) == 0) {	\
 		netif_tx_lock(dev);			\
@@ -1326,7 +1268,7 @@ int dev_queue_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb)
 
 	if (skb_shinfo(skb)->frag_list &&
 	    !(dev->features & NETIF_F_FRAGLIST) &&
-	    __skb_linearize(skb, GFP_ATOMIC))
+	    __skb_linearize(skb))
 		goto out_kfree_skb;
 
 	/* Fragmented skb is linearized if device does not support SG,
@@ -1335,7 +1277,7 @@ int dev_queue_xmit(struct sk_buff *skb)
 	 */
 	if (skb_shinfo(skb)->nr_frags &&
 	    (!(dev->features & NETIF_F_SG) || illegal_highdma(dev, skb)) &&
-	    __skb_linearize(skb, GFP_ATOMIC))
+	    __skb_linearize(skb))
 		goto out_kfree_skb;
 
 	/* If packet is not checksummed and device does not support
@@ -3473,7 +3415,6 @@ subsys_initcall(net_dev_init);
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(__dev_get_by_index);
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(__dev_get_by_name);
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(__dev_remove_pack);
-EXPORT_SYMBOL(__skb_linearize);
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(dev_valid_name);
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(dev_add_pack);
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(dev_alloc_name);
diff --git a/net/decnet/dn_nsp_in.c b/net/decnet/dn_nsp_in.c
index 547523b41c81..a2ba9db1c376 100644
--- a/net/decnet/dn_nsp_in.c
+++ b/net/decnet/dn_nsp_in.c
@@ -801,8 +801,7 @@ got_it:
 		 * We linearize everything except data segments here.
 		 */
 		if (cb->nsp_flags & ~0x60) {
-			if (unlikely(skb_is_nonlinear(skb)) &&
-			    skb_linearize(skb, GFP_ATOMIC) != 0)
+			if (unlikely(skb_linearize(skb)))
 				goto free_out;
 		}
 
diff --git a/net/decnet/dn_route.c b/net/decnet/dn_route.c
index e172cf98d7fc..5abf7057af00 100644
--- a/net/decnet/dn_route.c
+++ b/net/decnet/dn_route.c
@@ -629,8 +629,7 @@ int dn_route_rcv(struct sk_buff *skb, struct net_device *dev, struct packet_type
 			padlen);
 
         if (flags & DN_RT_PKT_CNTL) {
-		if (unlikely(skb_is_nonlinear(skb)) &&
-		    skb_linearize(skb, GFP_ATOMIC) != 0)
+		if (unlikely(skb_linearize(skb)))
 			goto dump_it;
 
                 switch(flags & DN_RT_CNTL_MSK) {
diff --git a/net/ipv4/ipcomp.c b/net/ipv4/ipcomp.c
index 8e243589045f..3ed8b57a1002 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/ipcomp.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/ipcomp.c
@@ -80,15 +80,12 @@ out:
 
 static int ipcomp_input(struct xfrm_state *x, struct sk_buff *skb)
 {
-	int err = 0;
+	int err = -ENOMEM;
 	struct iphdr *iph;
 	struct ip_comp_hdr *ipch;
 
-	if ((skb_is_nonlinear(skb) || skb_cloned(skb)) &&
-	    skb_linearize(skb, GFP_ATOMIC) != 0) {
-	    	err = -ENOMEM;
+	if (skb_linearize_cow(skb))
 	    	goto out;
-	}
 
 	skb->ip_summed = CHECKSUM_NONE;
 
@@ -158,10 +155,8 @@ static int ipcomp_output(struct xfrm_state *x, struct sk_buff *skb)
 		goto out_ok;
 	}
 
-	if ((skb_is_nonlinear(skb) || skb_cloned(skb)) &&
-	    skb_linearize(skb, GFP_ATOMIC) != 0) {
+	if (skb_linearize_cow(skb))
 		goto out_ok;
-	}
 	
 	err = ipcomp_compress(x, skb);
 	iph = skb->nh.iph;
diff --git a/net/ipv6/ipcomp6.c b/net/ipv6/ipcomp6.c
index cec3be544b69..f28cd37feed3 100644
--- a/net/ipv6/ipcomp6.c
+++ b/net/ipv6/ipcomp6.c
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ static LIST_HEAD(ipcomp6_tfms_list);
 
 static int ipcomp6_input(struct xfrm_state *x, struct sk_buff *skb)
 {
-	int err = 0;
+	int err = -ENOMEM;
 	struct ipv6hdr *iph;
 	struct ipv6_comp_hdr *ipch;
 	int plen, dlen;
@@ -74,11 +74,8 @@ static int ipcomp6_input(struct xfrm_state *x, struct sk_buff *skb)
 	struct crypto_tfm *tfm;
 	int cpu;
 
-	if ((skb_is_nonlinear(skb) || skb_cloned(skb)) &&
-		skb_linearize(skb, GFP_ATOMIC) != 0) {
-		err = -ENOMEM;
+	if (skb_linearize_cow(skb))
 		goto out;
-	}
 
 	skb->ip_summed = CHECKSUM_NONE;
 
@@ -142,10 +139,8 @@ static int ipcomp6_output(struct xfrm_state *x, struct sk_buff *skb)
 		goto out_ok;
 	}
 
-	if ((skb_is_nonlinear(skb) || skb_cloned(skb)) &&
-		skb_linearize(skb, GFP_ATOMIC) != 0) {
+	if (skb_linearize_cow(skb))
 		goto out_ok;
-	}
 
 	/* compression */
 	plen = skb->len - hdr_len;