diff --git a/include/linux/skbuff.h b/include/linux/skbuff.h
index 0a1239819fd2..333bcdc39635 100644
--- a/include/linux/skbuff.h
+++ b/include/linux/skbuff.h
@@ -701,6 +701,7 @@ typedef unsigned char *sk_buff_data_t;
  *	@transport_header: Transport layer header
  *	@network_header: Network layer header
  *	@mac_header: Link layer header
+ *	@kcov_handle: KCOV remote handle for remote coverage collection
  *	@tail: Tail pointer
  *	@end: End pointer
  *	@head: Head of buffer
@@ -904,6 +905,10 @@ struct sk_buff {
 	__u16			network_header;
 	__u16			mac_header;
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_KCOV
+	u64			kcov_handle;
+#endif
+
 	/* private: */
 	__u32			headers_end[0];
 	/* public: */
@@ -4150,9 +4155,6 @@ enum skb_ext_id {
 #endif
 #if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_MPTCP)
 	SKB_EXT_MPTCP,
-#endif
-#if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_KCOV)
-	SKB_EXT_KCOV_HANDLE,
 #endif
 	SKB_EXT_NUM, /* must be last */
 };
@@ -4608,35 +4610,22 @@ static inline void skb_reset_redirect(struct sk_buff *skb)
 #endif
 }
 
-#if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_KCOV) && IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_SKB_EXTENSIONS)
 static inline void skb_set_kcov_handle(struct sk_buff *skb,
 				       const u64 kcov_handle)
 {
-	/* Do not allocate skb extensions only to set kcov_handle to zero
-	 * (as it is zero by default). However, if the extensions are
-	 * already allocated, update kcov_handle anyway since
-	 * skb_set_kcov_handle can be called to zero a previously set
-	 * value.
-	 */
-	if (skb_has_extensions(skb) || kcov_handle) {
-		u64 *kcov_handle_ptr = skb_ext_add(skb, SKB_EXT_KCOV_HANDLE);
-
-		if (kcov_handle_ptr)
-			*kcov_handle_ptr = kcov_handle;
-	}
+#ifdef CONFIG_KCOV
+	skb->kcov_handle = kcov_handle;
+#endif
 }
 
 static inline u64 skb_get_kcov_handle(struct sk_buff *skb)
 {
-	u64 *kcov_handle = skb_ext_find(skb, SKB_EXT_KCOV_HANDLE);
-
-	return kcov_handle ? *kcov_handle : 0;
-}
+#ifdef CONFIG_KCOV
+	return skb->kcov_handle;
 #else
-static inline void skb_set_kcov_handle(struct sk_buff *skb,
-				       const u64 kcov_handle) { }
-static inline u64 skb_get_kcov_handle(struct sk_buff *skb) { return 0; }
-#endif /* CONFIG_KCOV && CONFIG_SKB_EXTENSIONS */
+	return 0;
+#endif
+}
 
 #endif	/* __KERNEL__ */
 #endif	/* _LINUX_SKBUFF_H */
diff --git a/lib/Kconfig.debug b/lib/Kconfig.debug
index 826a205ffd1c..1d15cdaf1b89 100644
--- a/lib/Kconfig.debug
+++ b/lib/Kconfig.debug
@@ -1879,7 +1879,6 @@ config KCOV
 	depends on CC_HAS_SANCOV_TRACE_PC || GCC_PLUGINS
 	select DEBUG_FS
 	select GCC_PLUGIN_SANCOV if !CC_HAS_SANCOV_TRACE_PC
-	select SKB_EXTENSIONS if NET
 	help
 	  KCOV exposes kernel code coverage information in a form suitable
 	  for coverage-guided fuzzing (randomized testing).
diff --git a/net/core/skbuff.c b/net/core/skbuff.c
index ffe3dcc0ebea..070b1077d976 100644
--- a/net/core/skbuff.c
+++ b/net/core/skbuff.c
@@ -233,6 +233,7 @@ struct sk_buff *__alloc_skb(unsigned int size, gfp_t gfp_mask,
 	skb->end = skb->tail + size;
 	skb->mac_header = (typeof(skb->mac_header))~0U;
 	skb->transport_header = (typeof(skb->transport_header))~0U;
+	skb_set_kcov_handle(skb, kcov_common_handle());
 
 	/* make sure we initialize shinfo sequentially */
 	shinfo = skb_shinfo(skb);
@@ -249,9 +250,6 @@ struct sk_buff *__alloc_skb(unsigned int size, gfp_t gfp_mask,
 
 		fclones->skb2.fclone = SKB_FCLONE_CLONE;
 	}
-
-	skb_set_kcov_handle(skb, kcov_common_handle());
-
 out:
 	return skb;
 nodata:
@@ -285,8 +283,6 @@ static struct sk_buff *__build_skb_around(struct sk_buff *skb,
 	memset(shinfo, 0, offsetof(struct skb_shared_info, dataref));
 	atomic_set(&shinfo->dataref, 1);
 
-	skb_set_kcov_handle(skb, kcov_common_handle());
-
 	return skb;
 }
 
@@ -4208,9 +4204,6 @@ static const u8 skb_ext_type_len[] = {
 #if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_MPTCP)
 	[SKB_EXT_MPTCP] = SKB_EXT_CHUNKSIZEOF(struct mptcp_ext),
 #endif
-#if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_KCOV)
-	[SKB_EXT_KCOV_HANDLE] = SKB_EXT_CHUNKSIZEOF(u64),
-#endif
 };
 
 static __always_inline unsigned int skb_ext_total_length(void)
@@ -4227,9 +4220,6 @@ static __always_inline unsigned int skb_ext_total_length(void)
 #endif
 #if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_MPTCP)
 		skb_ext_type_len[SKB_EXT_MPTCP] +
-#endif
-#if IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_KCOV)
-		skb_ext_type_len[SKB_EXT_KCOV_HANDLE] +
 #endif
 		0;
 }
