diff --git a/Documentation/atomic_ops.txt b/Documentation/atomic_ops.txt
index ac4d47187122..3bd585b44927 100644
--- a/Documentation/atomic_ops.txt
+++ b/Documentation/atomic_ops.txt
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ Also, it should be made opaque such that any kind of cast to a normal
 C integer type will fail.  Something like the following should
 suffice:
 
-	typedef struct { volatile int counter; } atomic_t;
+	typedef struct { int counter; } atomic_t;
 
 Historically, counter has been declared volatile.  This is now discouraged.
 See Documentation/volatile-considered-harmful.txt for the complete rationale.