diff --git a/daemon/graphdriver/aufs/aufs.go b/daemon/graphdriver/aufs/aufs.go
index 9b8c4de92f..51054fa6ef 100644
--- a/daemon/graphdriver/aufs/aufs.go
+++ b/daemon/graphdriver/aufs/aufs.go
@@ -374,20 +374,10 @@ func (a *Driver) DiffPath(id string) (string, func() error, error) {
 }
 
 func (a *Driver) applyDiff(id string, diff archive.Reader) error {
-	dir := path.Join(a.rootPath(), "diff", id)
-	if err := chrootarchive.UntarUncompressed(diff, dir, &archive.TarOptions{
+	return chrootarchive.UntarUncompressed(diff, path.Join(a.rootPath(), "diff", id), &archive.TarOptions{
 		UIDMaps: a.uidMaps,
 		GIDMaps: a.gidMaps,
-	}); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	// show invalid whiteouts warning.
-	files, err := ioutil.ReadDir(path.Join(dir, archive.WhiteoutLinkDir))
-	if err == nil && len(files) > 0 {
-		logrus.Warnf("Archive contains aufs hardlink references that are not supported.")
-	}
-	return nil
+	})
 }
 
 // DiffSize calculates the changes between the specified id
@@ -517,7 +507,7 @@ func (a *Driver) aufsMount(ro []string, rw, target, mountLabel string) (err erro
 		}
 
 		if firstMount {
-			opts := "dio,noplink,xino=/dev/shm/aufs.xino"
+			opts := "dio,xino=/dev/shm/aufs.xino"
 			if useDirperm() {
 				opts += ",dirperm1"
 			}
diff --git a/daemon/graphdriver/aufs/aufs_test.go b/daemon/graphdriver/aufs/aufs_test.go
index ee70a8b72c..761b5b6872 100644
--- a/daemon/graphdriver/aufs/aufs_test.go
+++ b/daemon/graphdriver/aufs/aufs_test.go
@@ -638,88 +638,6 @@ func TestApplyDiff(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestHardlinks(t *testing.T) {
-	// Copy 2 layers that have linked files to new layers and check if hardlink are preserved
-	d := newDriver(t)
-	defer os.RemoveAll(tmp)
-	defer d.Cleanup()
-
-	origFile := "test_file"
-	linkedFile := "linked_file"
-
-	if err := d.Create("source-1", "", ""); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	mountPath, err := d.Get("source-1", "")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	f, err := os.Create(path.Join(mountPath, origFile))
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	f.Close()
-
-	layerTar1, err := d.Diff("source-1", "")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	if err := d.Create("source-2", "source-1", ""); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	mountPath, err = d.Get("source-2", "")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	if err := os.Link(path.Join(mountPath, origFile), path.Join(mountPath, linkedFile)); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	layerTar2, err := d.Diff("source-2", "source-1")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	if err := d.Create("target-1", "", ""); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	if _, err := d.ApplyDiff("target-1", "", layerTar1); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	if err := d.Create("target-2", "target-1", ""); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	if _, err := d.ApplyDiff("target-2", "target-1", layerTar2); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	mountPath, err = d.Get("target-2", "")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	fi1, err := os.Lstat(path.Join(mountPath, origFile))
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	fi2, err := os.Lstat(path.Join(mountPath, linkedFile))
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	if !os.SameFile(fi1, fi2) {
-		t.Fatal("Target files are not linked")
-	}
-}
-
 func hash(c string) string {
 	h := sha256.New()
 	fmt.Fprint(h, c)