diff --git a/zfs/lib/libspl/kernel.c b/zfs/lib/libspl/kernel.c
index 4bdfd9766b..ad2e0ff0fe 100644
--- a/zfs/lib/libspl/kernel.c
+++ b/zfs/lib/libspl/kernel.c
@@ -400,7 +400,11 @@ vn_open(char *path, int x1, int flags, int mode, vnode_t **vpp, int x2, int x3)
 	 * for its size.  So -- gag -- we open the block device to get
 	 * its size, and remember it for subsequent VOP_GETATTR().
 	 */
+#if defined(__sun__) || defined(__sun)
 	if (strncmp(path, "/dev/", 5) == 0) {
+#else
+	if (0) {
+#endif
 		char *dsk;
 		fd = open64(path, O_RDONLY);
 		if (fd == -1)
@@ -421,6 +425,14 @@ vn_open(char *path, int x1, int flags, int mode, vnode_t **vpp, int x2, int x3)
 			return (errno);
 	}
 
+#ifdef __linux__
+	if (!(flags & FCREAT) && S_ISBLK(st.st_mode)) {
+		flags |= O_DIRECT;
+		if (flags & FWRITE)
+			flags |= O_EXCL;
+	}
+#endif
+
 	if (flags & FCREAT)
 		old_umask = umask(0);
 
diff --git a/zfs/lib/libzfs/include/libzfs.h b/zfs/lib/libzfs/include/libzfs.h
index ca88e5a5a8..227e48d400 100644
--- a/zfs/lib/libzfs/include/libzfs.h
+++ b/zfs/lib/libzfs/include/libzfs.h
@@ -48,6 +48,20 @@ extern "C" {
 #define	ZFS_MAXPROPLEN		MAXPATHLEN
 #define	ZPOOL_MAXPROPLEN	MAXPATHLEN
 
+/*
+ * Default device paths
+ */
+
+#if defined(__sun__) || defined(__sun)
+#define	DISK_ROOT	"/dev/dsk"
+#define	RDISK_ROOT	"/dev/rdsk"
+#define	BACKUP_SLICE	"s2"
+#endif
+
+#ifdef __linux__
+#define	DISK_ROOT	"/dev"
+#endif
+
 /*
  * libzfs errors
  */
diff --git a/zfs/lib/libzfs/libzfs_import.c b/zfs/lib/libzfs/libzfs_import.c
index bc6c33c0ff..9ea7198014 100644
--- a/zfs/lib/libzfs/libzfs_import.c
+++ b/zfs/lib/libzfs/libzfs_import.c
@@ -796,7 +796,7 @@ zpool_find_import_impl(libzfs_handle_t *hdl, int argc, char **argv,
 	size_t pathleft;
 	struct stat64 statbuf;
 	nvlist_t *ret = NULL, *config;
-	static char *default_dir = "/dev/dsk";
+	static char *default_dir = DISK_ROOT;
 	int fd;
 	pool_list_t pools = { 0 };
 	pool_entry_t *pe, *penext;
diff --git a/zfs/lib/libzfs/libzfs_pool.c b/zfs/lib/libzfs/libzfs_pool.c
index 048bb16cd7..f96f8ed632 100644
--- a/zfs/lib/libzfs/libzfs_pool.c
+++ b/zfs/lib/libzfs/libzfs_pool.c
@@ -1435,7 +1435,7 @@ zpool_find_vdev(zpool_handle_t *zhp, const char *path, boolean_t *avail_spare,
 	if (guid != 0 && *end == '\0') {
 		search = NULL;
 	} else if (path[0] != '/') {
-		(void) snprintf(buf, sizeof (buf), "%s%s", "/dev/dsk/", path);
+		(void) snprintf(buf, sizeof (buf), "%s/%s", DISK_ROOT, path);
 		search = buf;
 	} else {
 		search = path;
@@ -2348,6 +2348,7 @@ zpool_vdev_name(libzfs_handle_t *hdl, zpool_handle_t *zhp, nvlist_t *nv)
 	char buf[64];
 	vdev_stat_t *vs;
 	uint_t vsc;
+	size_t droot_len = strlen(DISK_ROOT) + 1;
 
 	if (nvlist_lookup_uint64(nv, ZPOOL_CONFIG_NOT_PRESENT,
 	    &value) == 0) {
@@ -2396,9 +2397,14 @@ zpool_vdev_name(libzfs_handle_t *hdl, zpool_handle_t *zhp, nvlist_t *nv)
 				devid_str_free(newdevid);
 		}
 
-		if (strncmp(path, "/dev/dsk/", 9) == 0)
-			path += 9;
+		if (strncmp(path, DISK_ROOT "/", droot_len) == 0)
+			path += droot_len;
 
+#if defined(__sun__) || defined(__sun)
+		/*
+		 * The following code strips the slice from the device path.
+		 * This is only meaningful in Solaris.
+		 */
 		if (nvlist_lookup_uint64(nv, ZPOOL_CONFIG_WHOLE_DISK,
 		    &value) == 0 && value) {
 			char *tmp = zfs_strdup(hdl, path);
@@ -2407,6 +2413,7 @@ zpool_vdev_name(libzfs_handle_t *hdl, zpool_handle_t *zhp, nvlist_t *nv)
 			tmp[strlen(path) - 2] = '\0';
 			return (tmp);
 		}
+#endif
 	} else {
 		verify(nvlist_lookup_string(nv, ZPOOL_CONFIG_TYPE, &path) == 0);
 
@@ -2767,8 +2774,6 @@ zpool_obj_to_path(zpool_handle_t *zhp, uint64_t dsobj, uint64_t obj,
 	free(mntpnt);
 }
 
-#define	RDISK_ROOT	"/dev/rdsk"
-#define	BACKUP_SLICE	"s2"
 /*
  * Don't start the slice at the default block of 34; many storage
  * devices will use a stripe width of 128k, so start there instead.
diff --git a/zfs/zcmd/zpool/zpool_main.c b/zfs/zcmd/zpool/zpool_main.c
index db0f8db397..7a51015a21 100644
--- a/zfs/zcmd/zpool/zpool_main.c
+++ b/zfs/zcmd/zpool/zpool_main.c
@@ -1469,7 +1469,7 @@ zpool_do_import(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	if (searchdirs == NULL) {
 		searchdirs = safe_malloc(sizeof (char *));
-		searchdirs[0] = "/dev/dsk";
+		searchdirs[0] = DISK_ROOT;
 		nsearch = 1;
 	}
 
@@ -2223,14 +2223,15 @@ zpool_get_vdev_by_name(nvlist_t *nv, char *name)
 	uint_t c, children;
 	nvlist_t *match;
 	char *path;
+	size_t droot_len = strlen(DISK_ROOT) + 1;
 
 	if (nvlist_lookup_nvlist_array(nv, ZPOOL_CONFIG_CHILDREN,
 	    &child, &children) != 0) {
 		verify(nvlist_lookup_string(nv, ZPOOL_CONFIG_PATH, &path) == 0);
-		if (strncmp(name, "/dev/dsk/", 9) == 0)
-			name += 9;
-		if (strncmp(path, "/dev/dsk/", 9) == 0)
-			path += 9;
+		if (strncmp(name, DISK_ROOT "/", droot_len) == 0)
+			name += droot_len;
+		if (strncmp(path, DISK_ROOT "/", droot_len) == 0)
+			path += droot_len;
 		if (strcmp(name, path) == 0)
 			return (nv);
 		return (NULL);
diff --git a/zfs/zcmd/zpool/zpool_vdev.c b/zfs/zcmd/zpool/zpool_vdev.c
index 169ac2712d..6398d1610b 100644
--- a/zfs/zcmd/zpool/zpool_vdev.c
+++ b/zfs/zcmd/zpool/zpool_vdev.c
@@ -77,10 +77,6 @@
 
 #include "zpool_util.h"
 
-#define	DISK_ROOT	"/dev/dsk"
-#define	RDISK_ROOT	"/dev/rdsk"
-#define	BACKUP_SLICE	"s2"
-
 /*
  * For any given vdev specification, we can have multiple errors.  The
  * vdev_error() function keeps track of whether we have seen an error yet, and