diff --git a/tools/lib/list_sort.c b/tools/lib/list_sort.c
index 10c067e3a8d2..69affa251fa7 100644
--- a/tools/lib/list_sort.c
+++ b/tools/lib/list_sort.c
@@ -52,7 +52,6 @@ static void merge_final(void *priv, list_cmp_func_t cmp, struct list_head *head,
 			struct list_head *a, struct list_head *b)
 {
 	struct list_head *tail = head;
-	u8 count = 0;
 
 	for (;;) {
 		/* if equal, take 'a' -- important for sort stability */
@@ -78,15 +77,6 @@ static void merge_final(void *priv, list_cmp_func_t cmp, struct list_head *head,
 	/* Finish linking remainder of list b on to tail */
 	tail->next = b;
 	do {
-		/*
-		 * If the merge is highly unbalanced (e.g. the input is
-		 * already sorted), this loop may run many iterations.
-		 * Continue callbacks to the client even though no
-		 * element comparison is needed, so the client's cmp()
-		 * routine can invoke cond_resched() periodically.
-		 */
-		if (unlikely(!++count))
-			cmp(priv, b, b);
 		b->prev = tail;
 		tail = b;
 		b = b->next;