diff --git a/init/Kconfig b/init/Kconfig
index 9afb971497f4..39b4313c6ca6 100644
--- a/init/Kconfig
+++ b/init/Kconfig
@@ -470,7 +470,6 @@ choice
 config TREE_RCU
 	bool "Tree-based hierarchical RCU"
 	depends on !PREEMPT && SMP
-	select IRQ_WORK
 	help
 	  This option selects the RCU implementation that is
 	  designed for very large SMP system with hundreds or
@@ -480,7 +479,6 @@ config TREE_RCU
 config PREEMPT_RCU
 	bool "Preemptible tree-based hierarchical RCU"
 	depends on PREEMPT
-	select IRQ_WORK
 	help
 	  This option selects the RCU implementation that is
 	  designed for very large SMP systems with hundreds or
diff --git a/kernel/rcu/tree.h b/kernel/rcu/tree.h
index cb5908672f11..41860b9a04a2 100644
--- a/kernel/rcu/tree.h
+++ b/kernel/rcu/tree.h
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@
 #include <linux/threads.h>
 #include <linux/cpumask.h>
 #include <linux/seqlock.h>
-#include <linux/irq_work.h>
 
 /*
  * Define shape of hierarchy based on NR_CPUS, CONFIG_RCU_FANOUT, and