diff --git a/fs/orangefs/acl.c b/fs/orangefs/acl.c
index df24864..28f2195 100644
--- a/fs/orangefs/acl.c
+++ b/fs/orangefs/acl.c
@@ -43,11 +43,8 @@ struct posix_acl *orangefs_get_acl(struct inode *inode, int type)
 		     get_khandle_from_ino(inode),
 		     key,
 		     type);
-	ret = orangefs_inode_getxattr(inode,
-				   "",
-				   key,
-				   value,
-				   ORANGEFS_MAX_XATTR_VALUELEN);
+	ret = orangefs_inode_getxattr(inode, key, value,
+				      ORANGEFS_MAX_XATTR_VALUELEN);
 	/* if the key exists, convert it to an in-memory rep */
 	if (ret > 0) {
 		acl = posix_acl_from_xattr(&init_user_ns, value, ret);
@@ -131,7 +128,7 @@ int orangefs_set_acl(struct inode *inode, struct posix_acl *acl, int type)
 	 * will xlate to a removexattr. However, we don't want removexattr
 	 * complain if attributes does not exist.
 	 */
-	error = orangefs_inode_setxattr(inode, "", name, value, size, 0);
+	error = orangefs_inode_setxattr(inode, name, value, size, 0);
 
 out:
 	kfree(value);
diff --git a/fs/orangefs/file.c b/fs/orangefs/file.c
index 5160a3f..526040e 100644
--- a/fs/orangefs/file.c
+++ b/fs/orangefs/file.c
@@ -516,7 +516,6 @@ static long orangefs_ioctl(struct file *file, unsigned int cmd, unsigned long ar
 	if (cmd == FS_IOC_GETFLAGS) {
 		val = 0;
 		ret = orangefs_inode_getxattr(file_inode(file),
-					      "",
 					      "user.pvfs2.meta_hint",
 					      &val, sizeof(val));
 		if (ret < 0 && ret != -ENODATA)
@@ -549,7 +548,6 @@ static long orangefs_ioctl(struct file *file, unsigned int cmd, unsigned long ar
 			     "orangefs_ioctl: FS_IOC_SETFLAGS: %llu\n",
 			     (unsigned long long)val);
 		ret = orangefs_inode_setxattr(file_inode(file),
-					      "",
 					      "user.pvfs2.meta_hint",
 					      &val, sizeof(val), 0);
 	}
diff --git a/fs/orangefs/orangefs-kernel.h b/fs/orangefs/orangefs-kernel.h
index 6503e37..7b542f1 100644
--- a/fs/orangefs/orangefs-kernel.h
+++ b/fs/orangefs/orangefs-kernel.h
@@ -517,13 +517,11 @@ __s32 fsid_of_op(struct orangefs_kernel_op_s *op);
 int orangefs_flush_inode(struct inode *inode);
 
 ssize_t orangefs_inode_getxattr(struct inode *inode,
-			     const char *prefix,
 			     const char *name,
 			     void *buffer,
 			     size_t size);
 
 int orangefs_inode_setxattr(struct inode *inode,
-			 const char *prefix,
 			 const char *name,
 			 const void *value,
 			 size_t size,
diff --git a/fs/orangefs/xattr.c b/fs/orangefs/xattr.c
index 1d8be91..3fc246b 100644
--- a/fs/orangefs/xattr.c
+++ b/fs/orangefs/xattr.c
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ static inline int convert_to_internal_xattr_flags(int setxattr_flags)
  * unless the key does not exist for the file and/or if
  * there were errors in fetching the attribute value.
  */
-ssize_t orangefs_inode_getxattr(struct inode *inode, const char *prefix,
-		const char *name, void *buffer, size_t size)
+ssize_t orangefs_inode_getxattr(struct inode *inode, const char *name,
+				void *buffer, size_t size)
 {
 	struct orangefs_inode_s *orangefs_inode = ORANGEFS_I(inode);
 	struct orangefs_kernel_op_s *new_op = NULL;
@@ -70,12 +70,12 @@ ssize_t orangefs_inode_getxattr(struct inode *inode, const char *prefix,
 	int fsgid;
 
 	gossip_debug(GOSSIP_XATTR_DEBUG,
-		     "%s: prefix %s name %s, buffer_size %zd\n",
-		     __func__, prefix, name, size);
+		     "%s: name %s, buffer_size %zd\n",
+		     __func__, name, size);
 
-	if ((strlen(name) + strlen(prefix)) >= ORANGEFS_MAX_XATTR_NAMELEN) {
+	if (strlen(name) >= ORANGEFS_MAX_XATTR_NAMELEN) {
 		gossip_err("Invalid key length (%d)\n",
-			   (int)(strlen(name) + strlen(prefix)));
+			   (int)strlen(name));
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
@@ -97,8 +97,7 @@ ssize_t orangefs_inode_getxattr(struct inode *inode, const char *prefix,
 		goto out_unlock;
 
 	new_op->upcall.req.getxattr.refn = orangefs_inode->refn;
-	ret = snprintf((char *)new_op->upcall.req.getxattr.key,
-		       ORANGEFS_MAX_XATTR_NAMELEN, "%s%s", prefix, name);
+	strcpy(new_op->upcall.req.getxattr.key, name);
 
 	/*
 	 * NOTE: Although keys are meant to be NULL terminated textual
@@ -163,10 +162,8 @@ out_unlock:
 	return ret;
 }
 
-static int orangefs_inode_removexattr(struct inode *inode,
-			    const char *prefix,
-			    const char *name,
-			    int flags)
+static int orangefs_inode_removexattr(struct inode *inode, const char *name,
+				      int flags)
 {
 	struct orangefs_inode_s *orangefs_inode = ORANGEFS_I(inode);
 	struct orangefs_kernel_op_s *new_op = NULL;
@@ -183,12 +180,8 @@ static int orangefs_inode_removexattr(struct inode *inode,
 	 * textual strings, I am going to explicitly pass the
 	 * length just in case we change this later on...
 	 */
-	ret = snprintf((char *)new_op->upcall.req.removexattr.key,
-		       ORANGEFS_MAX_XATTR_NAMELEN,
-		       "%s%s",
-		       (prefix ? prefix : ""),
-		       name);
-	new_op->upcall.req.removexattr.key_sz = ret + 1;
+	strcpy(new_op->upcall.req.removexattr.key, name);
+	new_op->upcall.req.removexattr.key_sz = strlen(name) + 1;
 
 	gossip_debug(GOSSIP_XATTR_DEBUG,
 		     "orangefs_inode_removexattr: key %s, key_sz %d\n",
@@ -223,8 +216,8 @@ out_unlock:
  * Returns a -ve number on error and 0 on success.  Key is text, but value
  * can be binary!
  */
-int orangefs_inode_setxattr(struct inode *inode, const char *prefix,
-		const char *name, const void *value, size_t size, int flags)
+int orangefs_inode_setxattr(struct inode *inode, const char *name,
+			    const void *value, size_t size, int flags)
 {
 	struct orangefs_inode_s *orangefs_inode = ORANGEFS_I(inode);
 	struct orangefs_kernel_op_s *new_op;
@@ -232,8 +225,8 @@ int orangefs_inode_setxattr(struct inode *inode, const char *prefix,
 	int ret = -ENOMEM;
 
 	gossip_debug(GOSSIP_XATTR_DEBUG,
-		     "%s: prefix %s, name %s, buffer_size %zd\n",
-		     __func__, prefix, name, size);
+		     "%s: name %s, buffer_size %zd\n",
+		     __func__, name, size);
 
 	if (size >= ORANGEFS_MAX_XATTR_VALUELEN ||
 	    flags < 0) {
@@ -245,29 +238,19 @@ int orangefs_inode_setxattr(struct inode *inode, const char *prefix,
 
 	internal_flag = convert_to_internal_xattr_flags(flags);
 
-	if (prefix) {
-		if (strlen(name) + strlen(prefix) >= ORANGEFS_MAX_XATTR_NAMELEN) {
-			gossip_err
-			    ("orangefs_inode_setxattr: bogus key size (%d)\n",
-			     (int)(strlen(name) + strlen(prefix)));
-			return -EINVAL;
-		}
-	} else {
-		if (strlen(name) >= ORANGEFS_MAX_XATTR_NAMELEN) {
-			gossip_err
-			    ("orangefs_inode_setxattr: bogus key size (%d)\n",
-			     (int)(strlen(name)));
-			return -EINVAL;
-		}
+	if (strlen(name) >= ORANGEFS_MAX_XATTR_NAMELEN) {
+		gossip_err
+		    ("orangefs_inode_setxattr: bogus key size (%d)\n",
+		     (int)(strlen(name)));
+		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
 	/* This is equivalent to a removexattr */
 	if (size == 0 && value == NULL) {
 		gossip_debug(GOSSIP_XATTR_DEBUG,
-			     "removing xattr (%s%s)\n",
-			     prefix,
+			     "removing xattr (%s)\n",
 			     name);
-		return orangefs_inode_removexattr(inode, prefix, name, flags);
+		return orangefs_inode_removexattr(inode, name, flags);
 	}
 
 	gossip_debug(GOSSIP_XATTR_DEBUG,
@@ -288,11 +271,8 @@ int orangefs_inode_setxattr(struct inode *inode, const char *prefix,
 	 * strings, I am going to explicitly pass the length just in
 	 * case we change this later on...
 	 */
-	ret = snprintf((char *)new_op->upcall.req.setxattr.keyval.key,
-		       ORANGEFS_MAX_XATTR_NAMELEN,
-		       "%s%s",
-		       prefix, name);
-	new_op->upcall.req.setxattr.keyval.key_sz = ret + 1;
+	strcpy(new_op->upcall.req.setxattr.keyval.key, name);
+	new_op->upcall.req.setxattr.keyval.key_sz = strlen(name) + 1;
 	memcpy(new_op->upcall.req.setxattr.keyval.val, value, size);
 	new_op->upcall.req.setxattr.keyval.val_sz = size;
 
@@ -454,12 +434,7 @@ static int orangefs_xattr_set_default(const struct xattr_handler *handler,
 				      size_t size,
 				      int flags)
 {
-	return orangefs_inode_setxattr(dentry->d_inode,
-				    "",
-				    name,
-				    buffer,
-				    size,
-				    flags);
+	return orangefs_inode_setxattr(dentry->d_inode, name, buffer, size, flags);
 }
 
 static int orangefs_xattr_get_default(const struct xattr_handler *handler,
@@ -469,11 +444,7 @@ static int orangefs_xattr_get_default(const struct xattr_handler *handler,
 				      void *buffer,
 				      size_t size)
 {
-	return orangefs_inode_getxattr(inode,
-				    "",
-				    name,
-				    buffer,
-				    size);
+	return orangefs_inode_getxattr(inode, name, buffer, size);
 
 }
 
