diff --git a/libavutil/buffer.c b/libavutil/buffer.c
index 478e4880e5..33cb513cc9 100644
--- a/libavutil/buffer.c
+++ b/libavutil/buffer.c
@@ -284,44 +284,6 @@ void av_buffer_pool_uninit(AVBufferPool **ppool)
         buffer_pool_free(pool);
 }
 
-#if USE_ATOMICS
-/* remove the whole buffer list from the pool and return it */
-static BufferPoolEntry *get_pool(AVBufferPool *pool)
-{
-    BufferPoolEntry *cur = *(void * volatile *)&pool->pool, *last = NULL;
-
-    while (cur != last) {
-        last = cur;
-        cur = avpriv_atomic_ptr_cas((void * volatile *)&pool->pool, last, NULL);
-        if (!cur)
-            return NULL;
-    }
-
-    return cur;
-}
-
-static void add_to_pool(BufferPoolEntry *buf)
-{
-    AVBufferPool *pool;
-    BufferPoolEntry *cur, *end = buf;
-
-    if (!buf)
-        return;
-    pool = buf->pool;
-
-    while (end->next)
-        end = end->next;
-
-    while (avpriv_atomic_ptr_cas((void * volatile *)&pool->pool, NULL, buf)) {
-        /* pool is not empty, retrieve it and append it to our list */
-        cur = get_pool(pool);
-        end->next = cur;
-        while (end->next)
-            end = end->next;
-    }
-}
-#endif
-
 static void pool_release_buffer(void *opaque, uint8_t *data)
 {
     BufferPoolEntry *buf = opaque;
@@ -330,14 +292,10 @@ static void pool_release_buffer(void *opaque, uint8_t *data)
     if(CONFIG_MEMORY_POISONING)
         memset(buf->data, FF_MEMORY_POISON, pool->size);
 
-#if USE_ATOMICS
-    add_to_pool(buf);
-#else
     ff_mutex_lock(&pool->mutex);
     buf->next = pool->pool;
     pool->pool = buf;
     ff_mutex_unlock(&pool->mutex);
-#endif
 
     if (!avpriv_atomic_int_add_and_fetch(&pool->refcount, -1))
         buffer_pool_free(pool);
@@ -369,11 +327,6 @@ static AVBufferRef *pool_alloc_buffer(AVBufferPool *pool)
     ret->buffer->opaque = buf;
     ret->buffer->free   = pool_release_buffer;
 
-#if USE_ATOMICS
-    avpriv_atomic_int_add_and_fetch(&pool->refcount, 1);
-    avpriv_atomic_int_add_and_fetch(&pool->nb_allocated, 1);
-#endif
-
     return ret;
 }
 
@@ -382,29 +335,6 @@ AVBufferRef *av_buffer_pool_get(AVBufferPool *pool)
     AVBufferRef *ret;
     BufferPoolEntry *buf;
 
-#if USE_ATOMICS
-    /* check whether the pool is empty */
-    buf = get_pool(pool);
-    if (!buf && pool->refcount <= pool->nb_allocated) {
-        av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_DEBUG, "Pool race dectected, spining to avoid overallocation and eventual OOM\n");
-        while (!buf && avpriv_atomic_int_get(&pool->refcount) <= avpriv_atomic_int_get(&pool->nb_allocated))
-            buf = get_pool(pool);
-    }
-
-    if (!buf)
-        return pool_alloc_buffer(pool);
-
-    /* keep the first entry, return the rest of the list to the pool */
-    add_to_pool(buf->next);
-    buf->next = NULL;
-
-    ret = av_buffer_create(buf->data, pool->size, pool_release_buffer,
-                           buf, 0);
-    if (!ret) {
-        add_to_pool(buf);
-        return NULL;
-    }
-#else
     ff_mutex_lock(&pool->mutex);
     buf = pool->pool;
     if (buf) {
@@ -418,7 +348,6 @@ AVBufferRef *av_buffer_pool_get(AVBufferPool *pool)
         ret = pool_alloc_buffer(pool);
     }
     ff_mutex_unlock(&pool->mutex);
-#endif
 
     if (ret)
         avpriv_atomic_int_add_and_fetch(&pool->refcount, 1);
diff --git a/libavutil/buffer_internal.h b/libavutil/buffer_internal.h
index 29ce8a643c..bbd40a04e4 100644
--- a/libavutil/buffer_internal.h
+++ b/libavutil/buffer_internal.h
@@ -87,8 +87,6 @@ struct AVBufferPool {
      */
     volatile int refcount;
 
-    volatile int nb_allocated;
-
     int size;
     void *opaque;
     AVBufferRef* (*alloc)(int size);
diff --git a/libavutil/thread.h b/libavutil/thread.h
index 32ddf40365..6e5744736b 100644
--- a/libavutil/thread.h
+++ b/libavutil/thread.h
@@ -26,8 +26,6 @@
 
 #if HAVE_PTHREADS || HAVE_W32THREADS || HAVE_OS2THREADS
 
-#define USE_ATOMICS 0
-
 #if HAVE_PTHREADS
 #include <pthread.h>
 
@@ -146,8 +144,6 @@ static inline int strict_pthread_once(pthread_once_t *once_control, void (*init_
 
 #else
 
-#define USE_ATOMICS 1
-
 #define AVMutex char
 
 #define ff_mutex_init(mutex, attr) (0)