diff --git a/arch/x86/mm/pageattr.c b/arch/x86/mm/pageattr.c
index 8ca0d8566fc8..7be47d1a97e4 100644
--- a/arch/x86/mm/pageattr.c
+++ b/arch/x86/mm/pageattr.c
@@ -508,18 +508,13 @@ static int split_large_page(pte_t *kpte, unsigned long address)
 #endif
 
 	/*
-	 * Install the new, split up pagetable. Important details here:
+	 * Install the new, split up pagetable.
 	 *
-	 * On Intel the NX bit of all levels must be cleared to make a
-	 * page executable. See section 4.13.2 of Intel 64 and IA-32
-	 * Architectures Software Developer's Manual).
-	 *
-	 * Mark the entry present. The current mapping might be
-	 * set to not present, which we preserved above.
+	 * We use the standard kernel pagetable protections for the new
+	 * pagetable protections, the actual ptes set above control the
+	 * primary protection behavior:
 	 */
-	ref_prot = pte_pgprot(pte_mkexec(pte_clrhuge(*kpte)));
-	pgprot_val(ref_prot) |= _PAGE_PRESENT;
-	__set_pmd_pte(kpte, address, mk_pte(base, ref_prot));
+	__set_pmd_pte(kpte, address, mk_pte(base, __pgprot(_KERNPG_TABLE)));
 	base = NULL;
 
 out_unlock: