diff --git a/include/linux/watchdog.h b/include/linux/watchdog.h
index 850af04fe0c7..aaabd4703b46 100644
--- a/include/linux/watchdog.h
+++ b/include/linux/watchdog.h
@@ -47,8 +47,6 @@ struct watchdog_ops {
 	int (*set_timeout)(struct watchdog_device *, unsigned int);
 	unsigned int (*get_timeleft)(struct watchdog_device *);
 	int (*restart)(struct watchdog_device *);
-	void (*ref)(struct watchdog_device *) __deprecated;
-	void (*unref)(struct watchdog_device *) __deprecated;
 	long (*ioctl)(struct watchdog_device *, unsigned int, unsigned long);
 };