diff --git a/include/linux/mm.h b/include/linux/mm.h
index 2fb32d1561eb..4ace5d50a892 100644
--- a/include/linux/mm.h
+++ b/include/linux/mm.h
@@ -2671,6 +2671,10 @@ void sparse_mem_maps_populate_node(struct page **map_map,
 				   unsigned long map_count,
 				   int nodeid);
 
+unsigned long __init section_map_size(void);
+void sparse_buffer_init(unsigned long size, int nid);
+void sparse_buffer_fini(void);
+void *sparse_buffer_alloc(unsigned long size);
 struct page *sparse_mem_map_populate(unsigned long pnum, int nid,
 		struct vmem_altmap *altmap);
 pgd_t *vmemmap_pgd_populate(unsigned long addr, int node);
diff --git a/mm/sparse-vmemmap.c b/mm/sparse-vmemmap.c
index 95e2c7638a5c..b05c7663c640 100644
--- a/mm/sparse-vmemmap.c
+++ b/mm/sparse-vmemmap.c
@@ -43,12 +43,9 @@ static void * __ref __earlyonly_bootmem_alloc(int node,
 				unsigned long goal)
 {
 	return memblock_virt_alloc_try_nid_raw(size, align, goal,
-					    BOOTMEM_ALLOC_ACCESSIBLE, node);
+					       BOOTMEM_ALLOC_ACCESSIBLE, node);
 }
 
-static void *vmemmap_buf;
-static void *vmemmap_buf_end;
-
 void * __meminit vmemmap_alloc_block(unsigned long size, int node)
 {
 	/* If the main allocator is up use that, fallback to bootmem. */
@@ -76,18 +73,10 @@ void * __meminit vmemmap_alloc_block(unsigned long size, int node)
 /* need to make sure size is all the same during early stage */
 void * __meminit vmemmap_alloc_block_buf(unsigned long size, int node)
 {
-	void *ptr;
-
-	if (!vmemmap_buf)
-		return vmemmap_alloc_block(size, node);
-
-	/* take the from buf */
-	ptr = (void *)ALIGN((unsigned long)vmemmap_buf, size);
-	if (ptr + size > vmemmap_buf_end)
-		return vmemmap_alloc_block(size, node);
-
-	vmemmap_buf = ptr + size;
+	void *ptr = sparse_buffer_alloc(size);
 
+	if (!ptr)
+		ptr = vmemmap_alloc_block(size, node);
 	return ptr;
 }
 
@@ -279,19 +268,9 @@ void __init sparse_mem_maps_populate_node(struct page **map_map,
 					  unsigned long map_count, int nodeid)
 {
 	unsigned long pnum;
-	unsigned long size = sizeof(struct page) * PAGES_PER_SECTION;
-	void *vmemmap_buf_start;
 	int nr_consumed_maps = 0;
 
-	size = ALIGN(size, PMD_SIZE);
-	vmemmap_buf_start = __earlyonly_bootmem_alloc(nodeid, size * map_count,
-			 PMD_SIZE, __pa(MAX_DMA_ADDRESS));
-
-	if (vmemmap_buf_start) {
-		vmemmap_buf = vmemmap_buf_start;
-		vmemmap_buf_end = vmemmap_buf_start + size * map_count;
-	}
-
+	sparse_buffer_init(section_map_size() * map_count, nodeid);
 	for (pnum = pnum_begin; pnum < pnum_end; pnum++) {
 		if (!present_section_nr(pnum))
 			continue;
@@ -303,12 +282,5 @@ void __init sparse_mem_maps_populate_node(struct page **map_map,
 		pr_err("%s: sparsemem memory map backing failed some memory will not be available\n",
 		       __func__);
 	}
-
-	if (vmemmap_buf_start) {
-		/* need to free left buf */
-		memblock_free_early(__pa(vmemmap_buf),
-				    vmemmap_buf_end - vmemmap_buf);
-		vmemmap_buf = NULL;
-		vmemmap_buf_end = NULL;
-	}
+	sparse_buffer_fini();
 }
diff --git a/mm/sparse.c b/mm/sparse.c
index 2ea8b3dbd0df..9a0a5f598469 100644
--- a/mm/sparse.c
+++ b/mm/sparse.c
@@ -400,7 +400,14 @@ static void __init sparse_early_usemaps_alloc_node(void *data,
 	}
 }
 
-#ifndef CONFIG_SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP
+#ifdef CONFIG_SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP
+unsigned long __init section_map_size(void)
+
+{
+	return ALIGN(sizeof(struct page) * PAGES_PER_SECTION, PMD_SIZE);
+}
+
+#else
 struct page __init *sparse_mem_map_populate(unsigned long pnum, int nid,
 		struct vmem_altmap *altmap)
 {
@@ -457,6 +464,42 @@ void __init sparse_mem_maps_populate_node(struct page **map_map,
 }
 #endif /* !CONFIG_SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP */
 
+static void *sparsemap_buf __meminitdata;
+static void *sparsemap_buf_end __meminitdata;
+
+void __init sparse_buffer_init(unsigned long size, int nid)
+{
+	WARN_ON(sparsemap_buf);	/* forgot to call sparse_buffer_fini()? */
+	sparsemap_buf =
+		memblock_virt_alloc_try_nid_raw(size, PAGE_SIZE,
+						__pa(MAX_DMA_ADDRESS),
+						BOOTMEM_ALLOC_ACCESSIBLE, nid);
+	sparsemap_buf_end = sparsemap_buf + size;
+}
+
+void __init sparse_buffer_fini(void)
+{
+	unsigned long size = sparsemap_buf_end - sparsemap_buf;
+
+	if (sparsemap_buf && size > 0)
+		memblock_free_early(__pa(sparsemap_buf), size);
+	sparsemap_buf = NULL;
+}
+
+void * __meminit sparse_buffer_alloc(unsigned long size)
+{
+	void *ptr = NULL;
+
+	if (sparsemap_buf) {
+		ptr = PTR_ALIGN(sparsemap_buf, size);
+		if (ptr + size > sparsemap_buf_end)
+			ptr = NULL;
+		else
+			sparsemap_buf = ptr + size;
+	}
+	return ptr;
+}
+
 #ifdef CONFIG_SPARSEMEM_ALLOC_MEM_MAP_TOGETHER
 static void __init sparse_early_mem_maps_alloc_node(void *data,
 				 unsigned long pnum_begin,