diff --git a/drivers/of/base.c b/drivers/of/base.c
index d687e6de24a0..128e114f9210 100644
--- a/drivers/of/base.c
+++ b/drivers/of/base.c
@@ -545,6 +545,38 @@ int of_machine_is_compatible(const char *compat)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(of_machine_is_compatible);
 
+/**
+ * of_machine_get_model_name - Find and read the model name or the compatible
+ *		value for the machine.
+ * @model:	pointer to null terminated return string, modified only if
+ *		return value is 0.
+ *
+ * Returns a string containing either the model name or the compatible value
+ * of the machine if found, else return error.
+ *
+ * Search for a machine model name or the compatible if model name is missing
+ * in a device tree node and retrieve a null terminated string value (pointer
+ * to data, not a copy). Returns 0 on success, -EINVAL if root of the device
+ * tree is not found and other error returned by of_property_read_string on
+ * failure.
+ */
+int of_machine_get_model_name(const char **model)
+{
+	int error;
+
+	if (!of_node_get(of_root))
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	error = of_property_read_string(of_root, "model", model);
+	if (error)
+		error = of_property_read_string_index(of_root, "compatible",
+						      0, model);
+	of_node_put(of_root);
+
+	return error;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(of_machine_get_model_name);
+
 /**
  *  __of_device_is_available - check if a device is available for use
  *
diff --git a/include/linux/of.h b/include/linux/of.h
index 299aeb192727..9eb8eb3c587e 100644
--- a/include/linux/of.h
+++ b/include/linux/of.h
@@ -367,6 +367,7 @@ extern int of_alias_get_id(struct device_node *np, const char *stem);
 extern int of_alias_get_highest_id(const char *stem);
 
 extern int of_machine_is_compatible(const char *compat);
+extern int of_machine_get_model_name(const char **model);
 
 extern int of_add_property(struct device_node *np, struct property *prop);
 extern int of_remove_property(struct device_node *np, struct property *prop);
@@ -788,6 +789,11 @@ static inline int of_machine_is_compatible(const char *compat)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static inline int of_machine_get_model_name(const char **model)
+{
+	return -EINVAL;
+}
+
 static inline bool of_console_check(const struct device_node *dn, const char *name, int index)
 {
 	return false;