diff --git a/arch/alpha/kernel/ptrace.c b/arch/alpha/kernel/ptrace.c
index 0cd0605..83a7818 100644
--- a/arch/alpha/kernel/ptrace.c
+++ b/arch/alpha/kernel/ptrace.c
@@ -315,9 +315,7 @@
 	/* When I and D space are separate, this will have to be fixed.  */
 	case PTRACE_POKETEXT: /* write the word at location addr. */
 	case PTRACE_POKEDATA:
-		tmp = data;
-		copied = access_process_vm(child, addr, &tmp, sizeof(tmp), 1);
-		ret = (copied == sizeof(tmp)) ? 0 : -EIO;
+		ret = generic_ptrace_pokedata(child, addr, data);
 		break;
 
 	case PTRACE_POKEUSR: /* write the specified register */