diff --git a/libvirt.spec.in b/libvirt.spec.in
index 79738bd7bb..8314fbeb34 100644
--- a/libvirt.spec.in
+++ b/libvirt.spec.in
@@ -91,7 +91,6 @@
 
 # Other optional features
 %define with_numactl          0%{!?_without_numactl:1}
-%define with_userfaultfd_sysctl 0%{!?_without_userfaultfd_sysctl:1}
 
 # A few optional bits off by default, we enable later
 %define with_fuse             0
@@ -259,12 +258,6 @@
     %define enable_werror -Dwerror=false -Dgit_werror=disabled
 %endif
 
-# Fedora and RHEL-9 are new enough to support /dev/userfaultfd, which
-# does not require enabling vm.unprivileged_userfaultfd sysctl.
-%if 0%{?fedora} || 0%{?rhel}
-    %define with_userfaultfd_sysctl 0
-%endif
-
 %define tls_priority "@LIBVIRT,SYSTEM"
 
 # libvirt 8.1.0 stops distributing any sysconfig files.
@@ -1329,12 +1322,6 @@ exit 1
     %define arg_remote_mode -Dremote_default_mode=legacy
 %endif
 
-%if %{with_userfaultfd_sysctl}
-    %define arg_userfaultfd_sysctl -Duserfaultfd_sysctl=enabled
-%else
-    %define arg_userfaultfd_sysctl -Duserfaultfd_sysctl=disabled
-%endif
-
 %define when  %(date +"%%F-%%T")
 %define where %(hostname)
 %define who   %{?packager}%{!?packager:Unknown}
@@ -1418,7 +1405,6 @@ export SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=$(stat --printf='%Y' %{_specdir}/libvirt.spec)
            -Dqemu_datadir=%{qemu_datadir} \
            -Dtls_priority=%{tls_priority} \
            -Dsysctl_config=enabled \
-           %{?arg_userfaultfd_sysctl} \
            -Dssh_proxy=enabled \
            %{?enable_werror} \
            -Dexpensive_tests=enabled \
@@ -1506,7 +1492,6 @@ export SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=$(stat --printf='%Y' %{_specdir}/libvirt.spec)
   -Dstorage_vstorage=disabled \
   -Dstorage_zfs=disabled \
   -Dsysctl_config=disabled \
-  -Duserfaultfd_sysctl=disabled \
   -Dssh_proxy=disabled \
   -Dtests=disabled \
   -Dudev=disabled \
@@ -2314,9 +2299,6 @@ exit 0
     %if %{with_qemu}
 %files daemon-driver-qemu
 %config(noreplace) %{_sysconfdir}/libvirt/virtqemud.conf
-        %if %{with_userfaultfd_sysctl}
-%config(noreplace) %{_prefix}/lib/sysctl.d/60-qemu-postcopy-migration.conf
-        %endif
 %{_datadir}/augeas/lenses/virtqemud.aug
 %{_datadir}/augeas/lenses/tests/test_virtqemud.aug
 %{_unitdir}/virtqemud.service
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index c1871de64c..6ac9d01952 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -2029,12 +2029,6 @@ elif get_option('sysctl_config').enabled()
   error('sysctl configuration is supported only on linux')
 endif
 
-if not get_option('userfaultfd_sysctl').disabled() and conf.has('WITH_SYSCTL')
-  conf.set('WITH_USERFAULTFD_SYSCTL', 1)
-elif get_option('userfaultfd_sysctl').enabled()
-  error('userfaultfd_sysctl option requires sysctl_config to be enabled')
-endif
-
 prio = get_option('tls_priority')
 if prio == 'auto'
     # If local OS has 'crypto-policies' then default to that
@@ -2345,7 +2339,6 @@ misc_summary = {
   'sysctl config': conf.has('WITH_SYSCTL'),
   'tests': tests_enabled,
   'TLS priority': conf.get_unquoted('TLS_PRIORITY'),
-  'userfaultfd sysctl': conf.has('WITH_USERFAULTFD_SYSCTL'),
   'virt-host-validate': conf.has('WITH_HOST_VALIDATE'),
   'virt-login-shell': conf.has('WITH_LOGIN_SHELL'),
   'Warning Flags': supported_cc_flags,
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 8b6b26dfc6..e12ace4e11 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -132,6 +132,4 @@ option('nbdkit_config_default', type: 'feature', value: 'auto', description: 'Wh
 option('pm_utils', type: 'feature', value: 'auto', description: 'use pm-utils for power management')
 option('ssh_proxy', type: 'feature', value: 'auto', description: 'Build ssh-proxy for ssh over vsock')
 option('sysctl_config', type: 'feature', value: 'auto', description: 'Whether to install sysctl configs')
-# dep:sysctl_config
-option('userfaultfd_sysctl', type: 'feature', value: 'auto', description: 'Whether to install sysctl config for enabling unprivileged userfaultfd')
 option('tls_priority', type: 'string', value: 'auto', description: 'set the default TLS session priority string')
diff --git a/src/qemu/meson.build b/src/qemu/meson.build
index 5cf20f426f..ff9a904277 100644
--- a/src/qemu/meson.build
+++ b/src/qemu/meson.build
@@ -210,14 +210,6 @@ if conf.has('WITH_QEMU')
     'in_file': files('virtqemud.init.in'),
   }
 
-  if conf.has('WITH_USERFAULTFD_SYSCTL')
-    install_data(
-      'postcopy-migration.sysctl',
-      install_dir: prefix / 'lib' / 'sysctl.d',
-      rename: [ '60-qemu-postcopy-migration.conf' ],
-    )
-  endif
-
   virt_install_dirs += [
     confdir / 'qemu',
     confdir / 'qemu' / 'autostart',
diff --git a/src/qemu/postcopy-migration.sysctl b/src/qemu/postcopy-migration.sysctl
deleted file mode 100644
index db3f11e49f..0000000000
--- a/src/qemu/postcopy-migration.sysctl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-# This is needed to support post-copy migration for QEMU run by libvirt,
-# i.e., unprivileged, as userfaultfd is by default only available to
-# privileged processes.
-# It can be safely overridden by a file in /etc/sysctl.d/ in case post-copy
-# migration is not used on the host.
--vm.unprivileged_userfaultfd = 1