diff --git a/virt/kvm/guest_memfd.c b/virt/kvm/guest_memfd.c
index 24eb33c7948d..e90879322fd0 100644
--- a/virt/kvm/guest_memfd.c
+++ b/virt/kvm/guest_memfd.c
@@ -76,11 +76,6 @@ static int __kvm_gmem_prepare_folio(struct kvm *kvm, struct kvm_memory_slot *slo
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static inline void kvm_gmem_mark_prepared(struct folio *folio)
-{
-	folio_mark_uptodate(folio);
-}
-
 /*
  * Process @folio, which contains @gfn, so that the guest can use it.
  * The folio must be locked and the gfn must be contained in @slot.
@@ -90,13 +85,7 @@ static inline void kvm_gmem_mark_prepared(struct folio *folio)
 static int kvm_gmem_prepare_folio(struct kvm *kvm, struct kvm_memory_slot *slot,
 				  gfn_t gfn, struct folio *folio)
 {
-	unsigned long nr_pages, i;
 	pgoff_t index;
-	int r;
-
-	nr_pages = folio_nr_pages(folio);
-	for (i = 0; i < nr_pages; i++)
-		clear_highpage(folio_page(folio, i));
 
 	/*
 	 * Preparing huge folios should always be safe, since it should
@@ -114,11 +103,8 @@ static int kvm_gmem_prepare_folio(struct kvm *kvm, struct kvm_memory_slot *slot,
 	WARN_ON(!IS_ALIGNED(slot->gmem.pgoff, folio_nr_pages(folio)));
 	index = kvm_gmem_get_index(slot, gfn);
 	index = ALIGN_DOWN(index, folio_nr_pages(folio));
-	r = __kvm_gmem_prepare_folio(kvm, slot, index, folio);
-	if (!r)
-		kvm_gmem_mark_prepared(folio);
 
-	return r;
+	return __kvm_gmem_prepare_folio(kvm, slot, index, folio);
 }
 
 /*
@@ -429,7 +415,7 @@ static vm_fault_t kvm_gmem_fault_user_mapping(struct vm_fault *vmf)
 
 	if (!folio_test_uptodate(folio)) {
 		clear_highpage(folio_page(folio, 0));
-		kvm_gmem_mark_prepared(folio);
+		folio_mark_uptodate(folio);
 	}
 
 	vmf->page = folio_file_page(folio, vmf->pgoff);
@@ -766,7 +752,7 @@ void kvm_gmem_unbind(struct kvm_memory_slot *slot)
 static struct folio *__kvm_gmem_get_pfn(struct file *file,
 					struct kvm_memory_slot *slot,
 					pgoff_t index, kvm_pfn_t *pfn,
-					bool *is_prepared, int *max_order)
+					int *max_order)
 {
 	struct file *slot_file = READ_ONCE(slot->gmem.file);
 	struct gmem_file *f = file->private_data;
@@ -796,7 +782,6 @@ static struct folio *__kvm_gmem_get_pfn(struct file *file,
 	if (max_order)
 		*max_order = 0;
 
-	*is_prepared = folio_test_uptodate(folio);
 	return folio;
 }
 
@@ -806,19 +791,22 @@ int kvm_gmem_get_pfn(struct kvm *kvm, struct kvm_memory_slot *slot,
 {
 	pgoff_t index = kvm_gmem_get_index(slot, gfn);
 	struct folio *folio;
-	bool is_prepared = false;
 	int r = 0;
 
 	CLASS(gmem_get_file, file)(slot);
 	if (!file)
 		return -EFAULT;
 
-	folio = __kvm_gmem_get_pfn(file, slot, index, pfn, &is_prepared, max_order);
+	folio = __kvm_gmem_get_pfn(file, slot, index, pfn, max_order);
 	if (IS_ERR(folio))
 		return PTR_ERR(folio);
 
-	if (!is_prepared)
-		r = kvm_gmem_prepare_folio(kvm, slot, gfn, folio);
+	if (!folio_test_uptodate(folio)) {
+		clear_highpage(folio_page(folio, 0));
+		folio_mark_uptodate(folio);
+	}
+
+	r = kvm_gmem_prepare_folio(kvm, slot, gfn, folio);
 
 	folio_unlock(folio);
 
@@ -861,7 +849,6 @@ long kvm_gmem_populate(struct kvm *kvm, gfn_t start_gfn, void __user *src, long
 		struct folio *folio;
 		gfn_t gfn = start_gfn + i;
 		pgoff_t index = kvm_gmem_get_index(slot, gfn);
-		bool is_prepared = false;
 		kvm_pfn_t pfn;
 
 		if (signal_pending(current)) {
@@ -869,19 +856,12 @@ long kvm_gmem_populate(struct kvm *kvm, gfn_t start_gfn, void __user *src, long
 			break;
 		}
 
-		folio = __kvm_gmem_get_pfn(file, slot, index, &pfn, &is_prepared, NULL);
+		folio = __kvm_gmem_get_pfn(file, slot, index, &pfn, NULL);
 		if (IS_ERR(folio)) {
 			ret = PTR_ERR(folio);
 			break;
 		}
 
-		if (is_prepared) {
-			folio_unlock(folio);
-			folio_put(folio);
-			ret = -EEXIST;
-			break;
-		}
-
 		folio_unlock(folio);
 
 		ret = -EINVAL;
@@ -893,7 +873,7 @@ long kvm_gmem_populate(struct kvm *kvm, gfn_t start_gfn, void __user *src, long
 		p = src ? src + i * PAGE_SIZE : NULL;
 		ret = post_populate(kvm, gfn, pfn, p, opaque);
 		if (!ret)
-			kvm_gmem_mark_prepared(folio);
+			folio_mark_uptodate(folio);
 
 put_folio_and_exit:
 		folio_put(folio);