diff --git a/include/libuutil_impl.h b/include/libuutil_impl.h
index 7aa8f0cedf15..58b6df579d72 100644
--- a/include/libuutil_impl.h
+++ b/include/libuutil_impl.h
@@ -46,21 +46,6 @@ __attribute__((format(printf, 1, 2), __noreturn__))
 void uu_panic(const char *format, ...);
 
 
-/*
- * For debugging purposes, libuutil keeps around linked lists of all uu_lists
- * and uu_avls, along with pointers to their parents.  These can cause false
- * negatives when looking for memory leaks, so we encode the pointers by
- * storing them with swapped endianness;  this is not perfect, but it's about
- * the best we can do without wasting a lot of space.
- */
-#ifdef _LP64
-#define	UU_PTR_ENCODE(ptr)		BSWAP_64((uintptr_t)(void *)(ptr))
-#else
-#define	UU_PTR_ENCODE(ptr)		BSWAP_32((uintptr_t)(void *)(ptr))
-#endif
-
-#define	UU_PTR_DECODE(ptr)		((void *)UU_PTR_ENCODE(ptr))
-
 /*
  * uu_list structures
  */
@@ -80,11 +65,11 @@ struct uu_list_walk {
 };
 
 struct uu_list {
-	uintptr_t	ul_next_enc;
-	uintptr_t	ul_prev_enc;
+	uu_list_t	*ul_next;
+	uu_list_t	*ul_prev;
 
 	uu_list_pool_t	*ul_pool;
-	uintptr_t	ul_parent_enc;	/* encoded parent pointer */
+	void		*ul_parent;
 	size_t		ul_offset;
 	size_t		ul_numnodes;
 	uint8_t		ul_debug;
@@ -95,8 +80,6 @@ struct uu_list {
 	uu_list_walk_t	ul_null_walk;	/* for robust walkers */
 };
 
-#define	UU_LIST_PTR(ptr)		((uu_list_t *)UU_PTR_DECODE(ptr))
-
 #define	UU_LIST_POOL_MAXNAME	64
 
 struct uu_list_pool {
@@ -129,11 +112,11 @@ struct uu_avl_walk {
 };
 
 struct uu_avl {
-	uintptr_t	ua_next_enc;
-	uintptr_t	ua_prev_enc;
+	uu_avl_t	*ua_next;
+	uu_avl_t	*ua_prev;
 
 	uu_avl_pool_t	*ua_pool;
-	uintptr_t	ua_parent_enc;
+	void		*ua_parent;
 	uint8_t		ua_debug;
 	uint8_t		ua_index;	/* mark for uu_avl_index_ts */
 
@@ -141,8 +124,6 @@ struct uu_avl {
 	uu_avl_walk_t	ua_null_walk;
 };
 
-#define	UU_AVL_PTR(x)		((uu_avl_t *)UU_PTR_DECODE(x))
-
 #define	UU_AVL_POOL_MAXNAME	64
 
 struct uu_avl_pool {
diff --git a/lib/libuutil/uu_avl.c b/lib/libuutil/uu_avl.c
index 12f7bd4bcc72..ef1497b31439 100644
--- a/lib/libuutil/uu_avl.c
+++ b/lib/libuutil/uu_avl.c
@@ -97,8 +97,8 @@ uu_avl_pool_create(const char *name, size_t objsize, size_t nodeoffset,
 
 	(void) pthread_mutex_init(&pp->uap_lock, NULL);
 
-	pp->uap_null_avl.ua_next_enc = UU_PTR_ENCODE(&pp->uap_null_avl);
-	pp->uap_null_avl.ua_prev_enc = UU_PTR_ENCODE(&pp->uap_null_avl);
+	pp->uap_null_avl.ua_next = &pp->uap_null_avl;
+	pp->uap_null_avl.ua_prev = &pp->uap_null_avl;
 
 	(void) pthread_mutex_lock(&uu_apool_list_lock);
 	pp->uap_next = next = &uu_null_apool;
@@ -114,10 +114,8 @@ void
 uu_avl_pool_destroy(uu_avl_pool_t *pp)
 {
 	if (pp->uap_debug) {
-		if (pp->uap_null_avl.ua_next_enc !=
-		    UU_PTR_ENCODE(&pp->uap_null_avl) ||
-		    pp->uap_null_avl.ua_prev_enc !=
-		    UU_PTR_ENCODE(&pp->uap_null_avl)) {
+		if (pp->uap_null_avl.ua_next != &pp->uap_null_avl ||
+		    pp->uap_null_avl.ua_prev != &pp->uap_null_avl) {
 			uu_panic("uu_avl_pool_destroy: Pool \"%.*s\" (%p) has "
 			    "outstanding avls, or is corrupt.\n",
 			    (int)sizeof (pp->uap_name), pp->uap_name,
@@ -224,7 +222,7 @@ uu_avl_create(uu_avl_pool_t *pp, void *parent, uint32_t flags)
 	}
 
 	ap->ua_pool = pp;
-	ap->ua_parent_enc = UU_PTR_ENCODE(parent);
+	ap->ua_parent = parent;
 	ap->ua_debug = pp->uap_debug || (flags & UU_AVL_DEBUG);
 	ap->ua_index = (pp->uap_last_index = INDEX_NEXT(pp->uap_last_index));
 
@@ -236,11 +234,11 @@ uu_avl_create(uu_avl_pool_t *pp, void *parent, uint32_t flags)
 
 	(void) pthread_mutex_lock(&pp->uap_lock);
 	next = &pp->uap_null_avl;
-	prev = UU_PTR_DECODE(next->ua_prev_enc);
-	ap->ua_next_enc = UU_PTR_ENCODE(next);
-	ap->ua_prev_enc = UU_PTR_ENCODE(prev);
-	next->ua_prev_enc = UU_PTR_ENCODE(ap);
-	prev->ua_next_enc = UU_PTR_ENCODE(ap);
+	prev = next->ua_prev;
+	ap->ua_next = next;
+	ap->ua_prev = prev;
+	next->ua_prev = ap;
+	prev->ua_next = ap;
 	(void) pthread_mutex_unlock(&pp->uap_lock);
 
 	return (ap);
@@ -263,11 +261,11 @@ uu_avl_destroy(uu_avl_t *ap)
 		}
 	}
 	(void) pthread_mutex_lock(&pp->uap_lock);
-	UU_AVL_PTR(ap->ua_next_enc)->ua_prev_enc = ap->ua_prev_enc;
-	UU_AVL_PTR(ap->ua_prev_enc)->ua_next_enc = ap->ua_next_enc;
+	ap->ua_next->ua_prev = ap->ua_prev;
+	ap->ua_prev->ua_next = ap->ua_next;
 	(void) pthread_mutex_unlock(&pp->uap_lock);
-	ap->ua_prev_enc = UU_PTR_ENCODE(NULL);
-	ap->ua_next_enc = UU_PTR_ENCODE(NULL);
+	ap->ua_prev = NULL;
+	ap->ua_next = NULL;
 
 	ap->ua_pool = NULL;
 	avl_destroy(&ap->ua_tree);
diff --git a/lib/libuutil/uu_list.c b/lib/libuutil/uu_list.c
index 5ece4b14701e..0ca6f05205e9 100644
--- a/lib/libuutil/uu_list.c
+++ b/lib/libuutil/uu_list.c
@@ -93,8 +93,8 @@ uu_list_pool_create(const char *name, size_t objsize,
 
 	(void) pthread_mutex_init(&pp->ulp_lock, NULL);
 
-	pp->ulp_null_list.ul_next_enc = UU_PTR_ENCODE(&pp->ulp_null_list);
-	pp->ulp_null_list.ul_prev_enc = UU_PTR_ENCODE(&pp->ulp_null_list);
+	pp->ulp_null_list.ul_next = &pp->ulp_null_list;
+	pp->ulp_null_list.ul_prev = &pp->ulp_null_list;
 
 	(void) pthread_mutex_lock(&uu_lpool_list_lock);
 	pp->ulp_next = next = &uu_null_lpool;
@@ -110,10 +110,8 @@ void
 uu_list_pool_destroy(uu_list_pool_t *pp)
 {
 	if (pp->ulp_debug) {
-		if (pp->ulp_null_list.ul_next_enc !=
-		    UU_PTR_ENCODE(&pp->ulp_null_list) ||
-		    pp->ulp_null_list.ul_prev_enc !=
-		    UU_PTR_ENCODE(&pp->ulp_null_list)) {
+		if (pp->ulp_null_list.ul_next != &pp->ulp_null_list ||
+		    pp->ulp_null_list.ul_prev != &pp->ulp_null_list) {
 			uu_panic("uu_list_pool_destroy: Pool \"%.*s\" (%p) has "
 			    "outstanding lists, or is corrupt.\n",
 			    (int)sizeof (pp->ulp_name), pp->ulp_name,
@@ -202,7 +200,7 @@ uu_list_create(uu_list_pool_t *pp, void *parent, uint32_t flags)
 	}
 
 	lp->ul_pool = pp;
-	lp->ul_parent_enc = UU_PTR_ENCODE(parent);
+	lp->ul_parent = parent;
 	lp->ul_offset = pp->ulp_nodeoffset;
 	lp->ul_debug = pp->ulp_debug || (flags & UU_LIST_DEBUG);
 	lp->ul_sorted = (flags & UU_LIST_SORTED);
@@ -217,11 +215,11 @@ uu_list_create(uu_list_pool_t *pp, void *parent, uint32_t flags)
 
 	(void) pthread_mutex_lock(&pp->ulp_lock);
 	next = &pp->ulp_null_list;
-	prev = UU_PTR_DECODE(next->ul_prev_enc);
-	lp->ul_next_enc = UU_PTR_ENCODE(next);
-	lp->ul_prev_enc = UU_PTR_ENCODE(prev);
-	next->ul_prev_enc = UU_PTR_ENCODE(lp);
-	prev->ul_next_enc = UU_PTR_ENCODE(lp);
+	prev = next->ul_prev;
+	lp->ul_next = next;
+	lp->ul_prev = prev;
+	next->ul_prev = lp;
+	prev->ul_next = lp;
 	(void) pthread_mutex_unlock(&pp->ulp_lock);
 
 	return (lp);
@@ -250,11 +248,11 @@ uu_list_destroy(uu_list_t *lp)
 	}
 
 	(void) pthread_mutex_lock(&pp->ulp_lock);
-	UU_LIST_PTR(lp->ul_next_enc)->ul_prev_enc = lp->ul_prev_enc;
-	UU_LIST_PTR(lp->ul_prev_enc)->ul_next_enc = lp->ul_next_enc;
+	lp->ul_next->ul_prev = lp->ul_prev;
+	lp->ul_prev->ul_next = lp->ul_next;
 	(void) pthread_mutex_unlock(&pp->ulp_lock);
-	lp->ul_prev_enc = UU_PTR_ENCODE(NULL);
-	lp->ul_next_enc = UU_PTR_ENCODE(NULL);
+	lp->ul_prev = NULL;
+	lp->ul_next = NULL;
 	lp->ul_pool = NULL;
 	uu_free(lp);
 }