diff --git a/mm/slab.c b/mm/slab.c
index 3f1cc1ca4d88f..f36d3493f49f2 100644
--- a/mm/slab.c
+++ b/mm/slab.c
@@ -421,8 +421,6 @@ static struct kmem_cache kmem_cache_boot = {
 	.name = "kmem_cache",
 };
 
-#define BAD_ALIEN_MAGIC 0x01020304ul
-
 static DEFINE_PER_CPU(struct delayed_work, slab_reap_work);
 
 static inline struct array_cache *cpu_cache_get(struct kmem_cache *cachep)
@@ -644,7 +642,7 @@ static int transfer_objects(struct array_cache *to,
 static inline struct alien_cache **alloc_alien_cache(int node,
 						int limit, gfp_t gfp)
 {
-	return (struct alien_cache **)BAD_ALIEN_MAGIC;
+	return NULL;
 }
 
 static inline void free_alien_cache(struct alien_cache **ac_ptr)
@@ -1212,7 +1210,7 @@ void __init kmem_cache_init(void)
 					sizeof(struct rcu_head));
 	kmem_cache = &kmem_cache_boot;
 
-	if (num_possible_nodes() == 1)
+	if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_NUMA) || num_possible_nodes() == 1)
 		use_alien_caches = 0;
 
 	for (i = 0; i < NUM_INIT_LISTS; i++)