diff --git a/include/media/v4l2-subdev.h b/include/media/v4l2-subdev.h
index d4d74f9f2ff2..da16d2f4a00b 100644
--- a/include/media/v4l2-subdev.h
+++ b/include/media/v4l2-subdev.h
@@ -481,8 +481,7 @@ static inline void v4l2_subdev_init(struct v4l2_subdev *sd,
 					const struct v4l2_subdev_ops *ops)
 {
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&sd->list);
-	/* ops->core MUST be set */
-	BUG_ON(!ops || !ops->core);
+	BUG_ON(!ops);
 	sd->ops = ops;
 	sd->v4l2_dev = NULL;
 	sd->flags = 0;