diff --git a/io_uring/io_uring.c b/io_uring/io_uring.c
index 06f84108a063..8ef0603c07f1 100644
--- a/io_uring/io_uring.c
+++ b/io_uring/io_uring.c
@@ -441,24 +441,6 @@ static struct io_kiocb *__io_prep_linked_timeout(struct io_kiocb *req)
 	return req->link;
 }
 
-static inline struct io_kiocb *io_prep_linked_timeout(struct io_kiocb *req)
-{
-	if (likely(!(req->flags & REQ_F_ARM_LTIMEOUT)))
-		return NULL;
-	return __io_prep_linked_timeout(req);
-}
-
-static noinline void __io_arm_ltimeout(struct io_kiocb *req)
-{
-	io_queue_linked_timeout(__io_prep_linked_timeout(req));
-}
-
-static inline void io_arm_ltimeout(struct io_kiocb *req)
-{
-	if (unlikely(req->flags & REQ_F_ARM_LTIMEOUT))
-		__io_arm_ltimeout(req);
-}
-
 static void io_prep_async_work(struct io_kiocb *req)
 {
 	const struct io_issue_def *def = &io_issue_defs[req->opcode];
@@ -511,7 +493,6 @@ static void io_prep_async_link(struct io_kiocb *req)
 
 static void io_queue_iowq(struct io_kiocb *req)
 {
-	struct io_kiocb *link = io_prep_linked_timeout(req);
 	struct io_uring_task *tctx = req->task->io_uring;
 
 	BUG_ON(!tctx);
@@ -536,8 +517,6 @@ static void io_queue_iowq(struct io_kiocb *req)
 
 	trace_io_uring_queue_async_work(req, io_wq_is_hashed(&req->work));
 	io_wq_enqueue(tctx->io_wq, &req->work);
-	if (link)
-		io_queue_linked_timeout(link);
 }
 
 static void io_req_queue_iowq_tw(struct io_kiocb *req, struct io_tw_state *ts)
@@ -1731,17 +1710,24 @@ static bool io_assign_file(struct io_kiocb *req, const struct io_issue_def *def,
 	return !!req->file;
 }
 
+#define REQ_ISSUE_SLOW_FLAGS	(REQ_F_CREDS | REQ_F_ARM_LTIMEOUT)
+
 static int io_issue_sqe(struct io_kiocb *req, unsigned int issue_flags)
 {
 	const struct io_issue_def *def = &io_issue_defs[req->opcode];
 	const struct cred *creds = NULL;
+	struct io_kiocb *link = NULL;
 	int ret;
 
 	if (unlikely(!io_assign_file(req, def, issue_flags)))
 		return -EBADF;
 
-	if (unlikely((req->flags & REQ_F_CREDS) && req->creds != current_cred()))
-		creds = override_creds(req->creds);
+	if (unlikely(req->flags & REQ_ISSUE_SLOW_FLAGS)) {
+		if ((req->flags & REQ_F_CREDS) && req->creds != current_cred())
+			creds = override_creds(req->creds);
+		if (req->flags & REQ_F_ARM_LTIMEOUT)
+			link = __io_prep_linked_timeout(req);
+	}
 
 	if (!def->audit_skip)
 		audit_uring_entry(req->opcode);
@@ -1751,8 +1737,12 @@ static int io_issue_sqe(struct io_kiocb *req, unsigned int issue_flags)
 	if (!def->audit_skip)
 		audit_uring_exit(!ret, ret);
 
-	if (creds)
-		revert_creds(creds);
+	if (unlikely(creds || link)) {
+		if (creds)
+			revert_creds(creds);
+		if (link)
+			io_queue_linked_timeout(link);
+	}
 
 	if (ret == IOU_OK) {
 		if (issue_flags & IO_URING_F_COMPLETE_DEFER)
@@ -1765,7 +1755,6 @@ static int io_issue_sqe(struct io_kiocb *req, unsigned int issue_flags)
 
 	if (ret == IOU_ISSUE_SKIP_COMPLETE) {
 		ret = 0;
-		io_arm_ltimeout(req);
 
 		/* If the op doesn't have a file, we're not polling for it */
 		if ((req->ctx->flags & IORING_SETUP_IOPOLL) && def->iopoll_queue)
@@ -1808,8 +1797,6 @@ void io_wq_submit_work(struct io_wq_work *work)
 	else
 		req_ref_get(req);
 
-	io_arm_ltimeout(req);
-
 	/* either cancelled or io-wq is dying, so don't touch tctx->iowq */
 	if (atomic_read(&work->flags) & IO_WQ_WORK_CANCEL) {
 fail:
@@ -1929,15 +1916,11 @@ struct file *io_file_get_normal(struct io_kiocb *req, int fd)
 static void io_queue_async(struct io_kiocb *req, int ret)
 	__must_hold(&req->ctx->uring_lock)
 {
-	struct io_kiocb *linked_timeout;
-
 	if (ret != -EAGAIN || (req->flags & REQ_F_NOWAIT)) {
 		io_req_defer_failed(req, ret);
 		return;
 	}
 
-	linked_timeout = io_prep_linked_timeout(req);
-
 	switch (io_arm_poll_handler(req, 0)) {
 	case IO_APOLL_READY:
 		io_kbuf_recycle(req, 0);
@@ -1950,9 +1933,6 @@ static void io_queue_async(struct io_kiocb *req, int ret)
 	case IO_APOLL_OK:
 		break;
 	}
-
-	if (linked_timeout)
-		io_queue_linked_timeout(linked_timeout);
 }
 
 static inline void io_queue_sqe(struct io_kiocb *req)