diff --git a/src/gc-common.c b/src/gc-common.c
index 0f6307c1db98f..5ff30bbba5ac5 100644
--- a/src/gc-common.c
+++ b/src/gc-common.c
@@ -576,7 +576,7 @@ void gc_premark(jl_ptls_t ptls2)
 // GC control
 // ---
 
-_Atomic(uint32_t) jl_gc_disable_counter = 1;
+JL_DLLEXPORT _Atomic(uint32_t) jl_gc_disable_counter = 1;
 
 JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_gc_enable(int on)
 {
@@ -588,11 +588,9 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_gc_enable(int on)
         if (jl_atomic_fetch_add(&jl_gc_disable_counter, -1) == 1) {
             gc_num.allocd += gc_num.deferred_alloc;
             gc_num.deferred_alloc = 0;
-            enable_collection();
         }
     }
     else if (prev && !on) {
-        disable_collection();
         // enable -> disable
         jl_atomic_fetch_add(&jl_gc_disable_counter, 1);
         // check if the GC is running and wait for it to finish
diff --git a/src/gc.c b/src/gc.c
index 924cdce356a4b..c4023e922b676 100644
--- a/src/gc.c
+++ b/src/gc.c
@@ -3438,12 +3438,6 @@ void jl_gc_threadfun(void *arg)
 }
 
 // added for MMTk integration
-void enable_collection(void)
-{
-}
-void disable_collection(void)
-{
-}
 
 JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_gc_wb1_noinline(const void *parent) JL_NOTSAFEPOINT
 {
diff --git a/src/gc.h b/src/gc.h
index 0630a039f2b94..03b52fb24acbb 100644
--- a/src/gc.h
+++ b/src/gc.h
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ extern const size_t max_collect_interval;
 extern size_t last_long_collect_interval;
 extern size_t total_mem;
 extern memsize_t max_total_memory;
-extern _Atomic(uint32_t) jl_gc_disable_counter;
+extern JL_DLLEXPORT _Atomic(uint32_t) jl_gc_disable_counter;
 extern jl_mutex_t heapsnapshot_lock;
 extern uint64_t finalizer_rngState[];
 extern int gc_n_threads;
diff --git a/src/julia_internal.h b/src/julia_internal.h
index 737553ec98845..f5c9e07ce7329 100644
--- a/src/julia_internal.h
+++ b/src/julia_internal.h
@@ -333,8 +333,6 @@ extern jl_array_t *jl_all_methods JL_GLOBALLY_ROOTED;
 JL_DLLEXPORT extern int jl_lineno;
 JL_DLLEXPORT extern const char *jl_filename;
 
-extern void enable_collection(void);
-extern void disable_collection(void);
 jl_value_t *jl_gc_pool_alloc_noinline(jl_ptls_t ptls, int pool_offset,
                                    int osize);
 jl_value_t *jl_gc_big_alloc_noinline(jl_ptls_t ptls, size_t allocsz);
@@ -938,7 +936,7 @@ STATIC_INLINE int jl_addr_is_safepoint(uintptr_t addr)
     return addr >= safepoint_addr && addr < safepoint_addr + jl_page_size * 3;
 }
 extern _Atomic(uint32_t) jl_gc_running;
-extern _Atomic(uint32_t) jl_gc_disable_counter;
+extern JL_DLLEXPORT _Atomic(uint32_t) jl_gc_disable_counter;
 // All the functions are safe to be called from within a signal handler
 // provided that the thread will not be interrupted by another asynchronous
 // signal.
diff --git a/src/mmtk-gc.c b/src/mmtk-gc.c
index 1175c6a161750..db985b5149f8a 100644
--- a/src/mmtk-gc.c
+++ b/src/mmtk-gc.c
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_gc_collect(jl_gc_collection_t collection)
 {
     jl_task_t *ct = jl_current_task;
     jl_ptls_t ptls = ct->ptls;
-    if (jl_atomic_load_relaxed(&jl_gc_disable_counter)) {
+    if (jl_atomic_load_acquire(&jl_gc_disable_counter)) {
         size_t localbytes = jl_atomic_load_relaxed(&ptls->gc_num.allocd) + gc_num.interval;
         jl_atomic_store_relaxed(&ptls->gc_num.allocd, -(int64_t)gc_num.interval);
         static_assert(sizeof(_Atomic(uint64_t)) == sizeof(gc_num.deferred_alloc), "");
@@ -503,14 +503,6 @@ void jl_gc_threadfun(void *arg)
 }
 
 // added for MMTk integration
-void enable_collection(void)
-{
-    mmtk_enable_collection();
-}
-void disable_collection(void)
-{
-    mmtk_disable_collection();
-}
 
 JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_gc_array_ptr_copy(jl_array_t *dest, void **dest_p, jl_array_t *src, void **src_p, ssize_t n) JL_NOTSAFEPOINT
 {
diff --git a/src/threading.c b/src/threading.c
index d1157a02dada0..b050b3eccd87a 100644
--- a/src/threading.c
+++ b/src/threading.c
@@ -351,9 +351,6 @@ jl_ptls_t jl_init_threadtls(int16_t tid)
     ptls->rngseed = jl_rand();
     if (tid == 0) {
         ptls->disable_gc = 1;
-#ifdef MMTK_GC
-        disable_collection();
-#endif
     }
 #ifdef _OS_WINDOWS_
     if (tid == 0) {