diff --git a/drivers/staging/nvec/nvec.c b/drivers/staging/nvec/nvec.c
index 3fa1c75bda8a..488d7dd78a2f 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/nvec/nvec.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/nvec/nvec.c
@@ -159,12 +159,13 @@ static struct nvec_msg *nvec_msg_alloc(struct nvec_chip *nvec)
  *
  * Free the given message
  */
-static void nvec_msg_free(struct nvec_chip *nvec, struct nvec_msg *msg)
+inline void nvec_msg_free(struct nvec_chip *nvec, struct nvec_msg *msg)
 {
 	if (msg != &nvec->tx_scratch)
 		dev_vdbg(nvec->dev, "INFO: Free %ti\n", msg - nvec->msg_pool);
 	atomic_set(&msg->used, 0);
 }
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(nvec_msg_free);
 
 /**
  * nvec_msg_is_event - Return %true if @msg is an event
@@ -259,7 +260,8 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(nvec_write_async);
  * interrupt handlers.
  *
  * Returns: A pointer to the response message on success,
- * %NULL on failure.
+ * %NULL on failure. Free with nvec_msg_free() once no longer
+ * used.
  */
 struct nvec_msg *nvec_write_sync(struct nvec_chip *nvec,
 		const unsigned char *data, short size)
diff --git a/drivers/staging/nvec/nvec.h b/drivers/staging/nvec/nvec.h
index 44787535c0ea..f8ffe0002d1f 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/nvec/nvec.h
+++ b/drivers/staging/nvec/nvec.h
@@ -192,4 +192,7 @@ extern int nvec_register_notifier(struct nvec_chip *nvec,
 extern int nvec_unregister_notifier(struct device *dev,
 				    struct notifier_block *nb,
 				    unsigned int events);
+
+extern void nvec_msg_free(struct nvec_chip *nvec, struct nvec_msg *msg);
+
 #endif