diff --git a/sys/compat/linux/linux_event.c b/sys/compat/linux/linux_event.c
--- a/sys/compat/linux/linux_event.c
+++ b/sys/compat/linux/linux_event.c
@@ -633,24 +633,18 @@
 int
 linux_eventfd(struct thread *td, struct linux_eventfd_args *args)
 {
-	struct specialfd_eventfd ae;
-
-	bzero(&ae, sizeof(ae));
-	ae.initval = args->initval;
-	return (kern_specialfd(td, SPECIALFD_EVENTFD, &ae));
+	return (eventfd_create_file(td, args->initval, 0));
 }
 #endif
 
 int
 linux_eventfd2(struct thread *td, struct linux_eventfd2_args *args)
 {
-	struct specialfd_eventfd ae;
-	int flags;
+	int flags = 0;
 
 	if ((args->flags & ~(LINUX_O_CLOEXEC | LINUX_O_NONBLOCK |
 	    LINUX_EFD_SEMAPHORE)) != 0)
 		return (EINVAL);
-	flags = 0;
 	if ((args->flags & LINUX_O_CLOEXEC) != 0)
 		flags |= EFD_CLOEXEC;
 	if ((args->flags & LINUX_O_NONBLOCK) != 0)
@@ -658,10 +652,7 @@
 	if ((args->flags & LINUX_EFD_SEMAPHORE) != 0)
 		flags |= EFD_SEMAPHORE;
 
-	bzero(&ae, sizeof(ae));
-	ae.flags = flags;
-	ae.initval = args->initval;
-	return (kern_specialfd(td, SPECIALFD_EVENTFD, &ae));
+	return (eventfd_create_file(td, args->initval, flags));
 }
 
 int
diff --git a/sys/kern/sys_eventfd.c b/sys/kern/sys_eventfd.c
--- a/sys/kern/sys_eventfd.c
+++ b/sys/kern/sys_eventfd.c
@@ -106,15 +106,24 @@
 };
 
 int
-eventfd_create_file(struct thread *td, struct file *fp, uint32_t initval,
-    int flags)
+eventfd_create_file(struct thread *td, uint32_t initval, int flags)
 {
 	struct eventfd *efd;
-	int fflags;
+	struct file *fp;
+	int error, fd, fflags = 0;
 
 	AUDIT_ARG_FFLAGS(flags);
 	AUDIT_ARG_VALUE(initval);
 
+	if ((flags & ~(EFD_CLOEXEC | EFD_NONBLOCK | EFD_SEMAPHORE)) != 0)
+		return (EINVAL);
+	if ((flags & EFD_CLOEXEC) != 0)
+		fflags |= O_CLOEXEC;
+
+	error = falloc(td, &fp, &fd, fflags);
+	if (error != 0)
+		return (error);
+
 	efd = malloc(sizeof(*efd), M_EVENTFD, M_WAITOK | M_ZERO);
 	efd->efd_flags = flags;
 	efd->efd_count = initval;
@@ -124,9 +133,12 @@
 	fflags = FREAD | FWRITE;
 	if ((flags & EFD_NONBLOCK) != 0)
 		fflags |= FNONBLOCK;
+
 	finit(fp, fflags, DTYPE_EVENTFD, efd, &eventfdops);
+	fdrop(fp, td);
 
-	return (0);
+	td->td_retval[0] = fd;
+	return (error);
 }
 
 static int
diff --git a/sys/kern/sys_generic.c b/sys/kern/sys_generic.c
--- a/sys/kern/sys_generic.c
+++ b/sys/kern/sys_generic.c
@@ -936,64 +936,37 @@
 }
 
 int
-kern_specialfd(struct thread *td, int type, void *arg)
+user_eventfd(struct thread *td, const void *arg)
 {
-	struct file *fp;
-	struct specialfd_eventfd *ae;
-	int error, fd, fflags;
+	struct specialfd_eventfd efd;
+	int error;
 
-	fflags = 0;
-	error = falloc_noinstall(td, &fp);
+	error = copyin(arg, &efd, sizeof(efd));
 	if (error != 0)
 		return (error);
 
-	switch (type) {
-	case SPECIALFD_EVENTFD:
-		ae = arg;
-		if ((ae->flags & EFD_CLOEXEC) != 0)
-			fflags |= O_CLOEXEC;
-		error = eventfd_create_file(td, fp, ae->initval, ae->flags);
-		break;
-	default:
-		error = EINVAL;
-		break;
-	}
-
-	if (error == 0)
-		error = finstall(td, fp, &fd, fflags, NULL);
-	fdrop(fp, td);
-	if (error == 0)
-		td->td_retval[0] = fd;
-	return (error);
+	return (eventfd_create_file(td, efd.initval, efd.flags));
 }
 
 int
 sys___specialfd(struct thread *td, struct __specialfd_args *args)
 {
-	struct specialfd_eventfd ae;
-	int error;
+	size_t arg_size;
+	int (*specialfd_func)(struct thread *, const void *);
 
 	switch (args->type) {
 	case SPECIALFD_EVENTFD:
-		if (args->len != sizeof(struct specialfd_eventfd)) {
-			error = EINVAL;
-			break;
-		}
-		error = copyin(args->req, &ae, sizeof(ae));
-		if (error != 0)
-			break;
-		if ((ae.flags & ~(EFD_CLOEXEC | EFD_NONBLOCK |
-		    EFD_SEMAPHORE)) != 0) {
-			error = EINVAL;
-			break;
-		}
-		error = kern_specialfd(td, args->type, &ae);
+		arg_size = sizeof(struct specialfd_eventfd);
+		specialfd_func = user_eventfd;
 		break;
 	default:
-		error = EINVAL;
-		break;
+		return (EINVAL);
 	}
-	return (error);
+
+	if (args->len != arg_size)
+		return (EINVAL);
+
+	return (specialfd_func(td, args->req));
 }
 
 int
diff --git a/sys/sys/eventfd.h b/sys/sys/eventfd.h
--- a/sys/sys/eventfd.h
+++ b/sys/sys/eventfd.h
@@ -38,8 +38,7 @@
 
 #ifdef _KERNEL
 
-int eventfd_create_file(struct thread *td, struct file *fp, uint32_t initval,
-    int flags);
+int eventfd_create_file(struct thread *td, uint32_t initval, int flags);
 
 #else
 
diff --git a/sys/sys/syscallsubr.h b/sys/sys/syscallsubr.h
--- a/sys/sys/syscallsubr.h
+++ b/sys/sys/syscallsubr.h
@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@
 int	kern_statat(struct thread *td, int flag, int fd, const char *path,
 	    enum uio_seg pathseg, struct stat *sbp,
 	    void (*hook)(struct vnode *vp, struct stat *sbp));
-int	kern_specialfd(struct thread *td, int type, void *arg);
+int	user_eventfd(struct thread *td, const void *arg);
 int	kern_statfs(struct thread *td, const char *path, enum uio_seg pathseg,
 	    struct statfs *buf);
 int	kern_symlinkat(struct thread *td, const char *path1, int fd,