diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/mm/protection_keys.c b/tools/testing/selftests/mm/protection_keys.c
index 374a308174d2..48dc151f8fca 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/mm/protection_keys.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/mm/protection_keys.c
@@ -54,7 +54,6 @@ int test_nr;
 u64 shadow_pkey_reg;
 int dprint_in_signal;
 char dprint_in_signal_buffer[DPRINT_IN_SIGNAL_BUF_SIZE];
-char buf[256];
 
 void cat_into_file(char *str, char *file)
 {
@@ -1745,42 +1744,6 @@ void pkey_setup_shadow(void)
 	shadow_pkey_reg = __read_pkey_reg();
 }
 
-pid_t parent_pid;
-
-void restore_settings_atexit(void)
-{
-	if (parent_pid == getpid())
-		cat_into_file(buf, "/proc/sys/vm/nr_hugepages");
-}
-
-void save_settings(void)
-{
-	int fd;
-	int err;
-
-	if (geteuid())
-		return;
-
-	fd = open("/proc/sys/vm/nr_hugepages", O_RDONLY);
-	if (fd < 0) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "error opening\n");
-		perror("error: ");
-		exit(__LINE__);
-	}
-
-	/* -1 to guarantee leaving the trailing \0 */
-	err = read(fd, buf, sizeof(buf)-1);
-	if (err < 0) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "error reading\n");
-		perror("error: ");
-		exit(__LINE__);
-	}
-
-	parent_pid = getpid();
-	atexit(restore_settings_atexit);
-	close(fd);
-}
-
 int main(void)
 {
 	int nr_iterations = 22;
@@ -1788,7 +1751,6 @@ int main(void)
 
 	srand((unsigned int)time(NULL));
 
-	save_settings();
 	setup_handlers();
 
 	printf("has pkeys: %d\n", pkeys_supported);
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/mm/run_vmtests.sh b/tools/testing/selftests/mm/run_vmtests.sh
index c2c542fe7b17..4bdb3a0c7a60 100755
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/mm/run_vmtests.sh
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/mm/run_vmtests.sh
@@ -385,6 +385,7 @@ CATEGORY="ksm_numa" run_test ./ksm_tests -N -m 0
 CATEGORY="ksm" run_test ./ksm_functional_tests
 
 # protection_keys tests
+nr_hugepgs=$(cat /proc/sys/vm/nr_hugepages)
 if [ -x ./protection_keys_32 ]
 then
 	CATEGORY="pkey" run_test ./protection_keys_32
@@ -394,6 +395,7 @@ if [ -x ./protection_keys_64 ]
 then
 	CATEGORY="pkey" run_test ./protection_keys_64
 fi
+echo "$nr_hugepgs" > /proc/sys/vm/nr_hugepages
 
 if [ -x ./soft-dirty ]
 then