diff --git a/cmd/zfs_object_agent/util/src/lib.rs b/cmd/zfs_object_agent/util/src/lib.rs
index 8fce5bf9120e..23e9842168a1 100644
--- a/cmd/zfs_object_agent/util/src/lib.rs
+++ b/cmd/zfs_object_agent/util/src/lib.rs
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ pub use lock_set::LockSet;
 pub use lock_set::LockedItem;
 pub use logging::setup_logging;
 pub use logging::SUPER_EXPENSIVE_TRACE;
-pub use mutex_ext::MutexExt;
+pub use mutex_ext::lock_non_send;
 pub use nicenum::{nice_number_count, nice_number_time, nice_p2size};
 pub use range_tree::RangeTree;
 pub use tunable::get_tunable;
diff --git a/cmd/zfs_object_agent/util/src/mutex_ext.rs b/cmd/zfs_object_agent/util/src/mutex_ext.rs
index c025af420976..78b4b610eb77 100644
--- a/cmd/zfs_object_agent/util/src/mutex_ext.rs
+++ b/cmd/zfs_object_agent/util/src/mutex_ext.rs
@@ -1,11 +1,3 @@
-//! This module contains a trait which extends tokio::sync::Mutex.  It adds a
-//! new method, .lock_non_send(), which locks the mutex like .lock(), but
-//! returns a new kind of guard which can not be sent between threads.  This is
-//! useful if you want to ensure that .await is not used while the mutex is
-//! locked by some callers, but .await can be used from other callers (that use
-//! tokio::sync::Mutex::lock() directly).
-
-use async_trait::async_trait;
 use std::marker::PhantomData;
 use std::ops::Deref;
 use std::ops::DerefMut;
@@ -29,17 +21,16 @@ impl<'a, T> DerefMut for NonSendMutexGuard<'a, T> {
     }
 }
 
-#[async_trait]
-pub trait MutexExt<'a, T> {
-    async fn lock_non_send(&'a self) -> NonSendMutexGuard<'a, T>;
-}
-
-#[async_trait]
-impl<'a, T: Send> MutexExt<'a, T> for tokio::sync::Mutex<T> {
-    async fn lock_non_send(&'a self) -> NonSendMutexGuard<'a, T> {
-        NonSendMutexGuard {
-            inner: self.lock().await,
-            _marker: PhantomData,
-        }
+// This locks the mutex like Mutex::lock(), but returns a new kind of guard
+// which can not be sent between threads.  This is useful if you want to ensure
+// that .await is not used while the mutex is locked by some callers, but .await
+// can be used from other callers (that use tokio::sync::Mutex::lock()
+// directly).
+pub async fn lock_non_send<T>(mutex: &tokio::sync::Mutex<T>) -> NonSendMutexGuard<'_, T> {
+    // It would be nice to do this via an async_trait, but that requires a memory
+    // allocation each time it's called, which can impact performance.
+    NonSendMutexGuard {
+        inner: mutex.lock().await,
+        _marker: PhantomData,
     }
 }
diff --git a/cmd/zfs_object_agent/zettacache/src/zettacache.rs b/cmd/zfs_object_agent/zettacache/src/zettacache.rs
index a9bd8956fe0b..2bab9d6296d6 100644
--- a/cmd/zfs_object_agent/zettacache/src/zettacache.rs
+++ b/cmd/zfs_object_agent/zettacache/src/zettacache.rs
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ use tokio::sync::OwnedSemaphorePermit;
 use tokio::sync::Semaphore;
 use tokio::time::{sleep_until, timeout_at};
 use util::get_tunable;
+use util::lock_non_send;
 use util::maybe_die_with;
 use util::nice_p2size;
 use util::super_trace;
@@ -57,7 +58,6 @@ use util::AlignedBytes;
 use util::From64;
 use util::LockSet;
 use util::LockedItem;
-use util::MutexExt;
 use uuid::Uuid;
 
 lazy_static! {
@@ -1283,7 +1283,7 @@ impl ZettaCache {
         let fut_or_f = {
             // We don't want to hold the state lock while reading from disk so we
             // use lock_non_send() to ensure that we can't hold it across .await.
-            let mut state = self.state.lock_non_send().await;
+            let mut state = lock_non_send(&self.state).await;
             match state.pending_changes.get(&key).copied() {
                 Some(pc) => {
                     match pc {
@@ -1369,13 +1369,13 @@ impl ZettaCache {
                 // might have hit in the index chunk cache.  Same below.
                 stat_counter = CacheMissAfterIndexRead;
                 super_trace!("cache miss after reading index for {:?}", key);
-                let mut state = self.state.lock_non_send().await;
+                let mut state = lock_non_send(&self.state).await;
                 f(&mut state, None)
             }
             Some(entry) => {
                 // Again, we don't want to hold the state lock while reading from disk so
                 // we use lock_non_send() to ensure that we can't hold it across .await.
-                let mut state = self.state.lock_non_send().await;
+                let mut state = lock_non_send(&self.state).await;
                 let value = match &state.merge {
                     Some(ms) if entry.value.atime < ms.eviction_cutoff => {
                         // Block is being evicted, abort the read attempt
@@ -1483,7 +1483,7 @@ impl ZettaCache {
             // Now that we are ready to issue the write to disk, insert to the
             // cache in the current checkpoint (allocate a block, add to
             // pending_changes and outstanding_writes).
-            let fut = state.lock_non_send().await.insert(locked_key, bytes);
+            let fut = lock_non_send(&state).await.insert(locked_key, bytes);
             fut.await;
             // We want to hold onto the insert_permit until the write completes
             // because it represents the memory that's required to buffer this
@@ -1553,9 +1553,7 @@ impl ZettaCache {
                     // Now that we are ready to issue the write to disk, insert to the
                     // cache in the current checkpoint (allocate a block, add to
                     // pending_changes and outstanding_writes).
-                    let fut = cache
-                        .state
-                        .lock_non_send()
+                    let fut = lock_non_send(&cache.state)
                         .await
                         .insert(locked_key, aligned_bytes);
                     fut.await;