diff --git a/fs/exec.c b/fs/exec.c
index fb72d36f7823..966cd98a2ce2 100644
--- a/fs/exec.c
+++ b/fs/exec.c
@@ -1189,7 +1189,7 @@ static int de_thread(struct task_struct *tsk)
 	flush_itimer_signals();
 #endif
 
-	if (atomic_read(&oldsighand->count) != 1) {
+	if (refcount_read(&oldsighand->count) != 1) {
 		struct sighand_struct *newsighand;
 		/*
 		 * This ->sighand is shared with the CLONE_SIGHAND
@@ -1199,7 +1199,7 @@ static int de_thread(struct task_struct *tsk)
 		if (!newsighand)
 			return -ENOMEM;
 
-		atomic_set(&newsighand->count, 1);
+		refcount_set(&newsighand->count, 1);
 		memcpy(newsighand->action, oldsighand->action,
 		       sizeof(newsighand->action));
 
diff --git a/fs/proc/task_nommu.c b/fs/proc/task_nommu.c
index 0b63d68dedb2..f912872fbf91 100644
--- a/fs/proc/task_nommu.c
+++ b/fs/proc/task_nommu.c
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ void task_mem(struct seq_file *m, struct mm_struct *mm)
 	else
 		bytes += kobjsize(current->files);
 
-	if (current->sighand && atomic_read(&current->sighand->count) > 1)
+	if (current->sighand && refcount_read(&current->sighand->count) > 1)
 		sbytes += kobjsize(current->sighand);
 	else
 		bytes += kobjsize(current->sighand);
diff --git a/include/linux/sched/signal.h b/include/linux/sched/signal.h
index 13789d10a50e..37eeb1a28eba 100644
--- a/include/linux/sched/signal.h
+++ b/include/linux/sched/signal.h
@@ -8,13 +8,14 @@
 #include <linux/sched/jobctl.h>
 #include <linux/sched/task.h>
 #include <linux/cred.h>
+#include <linux/refcount.h>
 
 /*
  * Types defining task->signal and task->sighand and APIs using them:
  */
 
 struct sighand_struct {
-	atomic_t		count;
+	refcount_t		count;
 	struct k_sigaction	action[_NSIG];
 	spinlock_t		siglock;
 	wait_queue_head_t	signalfd_wqh;
diff --git a/kernel/fork.c b/kernel/fork.c
index b69248e6f0e0..370856d4c0b3 100644
--- a/kernel/fork.c
+++ b/kernel/fork.c
@@ -1463,7 +1463,7 @@ static int copy_sighand(unsigned long clone_flags, struct task_struct *tsk)
 	struct sighand_struct *sig;
 
 	if (clone_flags & CLONE_SIGHAND) {
-		atomic_inc(&current->sighand->count);
+		refcount_inc(&current->sighand->count);
 		return 0;
 	}
 	sig = kmem_cache_alloc(sighand_cachep, GFP_KERNEL);
@@ -1471,7 +1471,7 @@ static int copy_sighand(unsigned long clone_flags, struct task_struct *tsk)
 	if (!sig)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
-	atomic_set(&sig->count, 1);
+	refcount_set(&sig->count, 1);
 	spin_lock_irq(&current->sighand->siglock);
 	memcpy(sig->action, current->sighand->action, sizeof(sig->action));
 	spin_unlock_irq(&current->sighand->siglock);
@@ -1480,7 +1480,7 @@ static int copy_sighand(unsigned long clone_flags, struct task_struct *tsk)
 
 void __cleanup_sighand(struct sighand_struct *sighand)
 {
-	if (atomic_dec_and_test(&sighand->count)) {
+	if (refcount_dec_and_test(&sighand->count)) {
 		signalfd_cleanup(sighand);
 		/*
 		 * sighand_cachep is SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU so we can free it
@@ -2439,7 +2439,7 @@ static int check_unshare_flags(unsigned long unshare_flags)
 			return -EINVAL;
 	}
 	if (unshare_flags & (CLONE_SIGHAND | CLONE_VM)) {
-		if (atomic_read(&current->sighand->count) > 1)
+		if (refcount_read(&current->sighand->count) > 1)
 			return -EINVAL;
 	}
 	if (unshare_flags & CLONE_VM) {