The params pointer itself is not volatile, only what it points to.

bin/varnishd/heritage.h

@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ struct params {
  * We declare this a volatile pointer, so that reads of parameters
  * become atomic, leaving the CLI thread lattitude to change the values
  */
-extern volatile struct params * volatile params;
+extern volatile struct params * params;
 extern struct heritage heritage;
 
 void child_main(void);

bin/varnishd/varnishd.c

@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@
 #endif
 
 struct heritage		heritage;
-volatile struct params	* volatile params;
+volatile struct params	*params;
 unsigned		d_flag = 0;
 pid_t			mgt_pid;
 struct vev_base		*mgt_evb;