diff --git a/drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c b/drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c
index 02d534da22dd..fab042e1ee90 100644
--- a/drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c
+++ b/drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c
@@ -845,8 +845,7 @@ static void cpufreq_init_policy(struct cpufreq_policy *policy)
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_HOTPLUG_CPU
 static int cpufreq_add_policy_cpu(struct cpufreq_policy *policy,
-				  unsigned int cpu, struct device *dev,
-				  bool frozen)
+				  unsigned int cpu, struct device *dev)
 {
 	int ret = 0;
 	unsigned long flags;
@@ -877,11 +876,7 @@ static int cpufreq_add_policy_cpu(struct cpufreq_policy *policy,
 		}
 	}
 
-	/* Don't touch sysfs links during light-weight init */
-	if (!frozen)
-		ret = sysfs_create_link(&dev->kobj, &policy->kobj, "cpufreq");
-
-	return ret;
+	return sysfs_create_link(&dev->kobj, &policy->kobj, "cpufreq");
 }
 #endif
 
@@ -926,6 +921,27 @@ err_free_policy:
 	return NULL;
 }
 
+static void cpufreq_policy_put_kobj(struct cpufreq_policy *policy)
+{
+	struct kobject *kobj;
+	struct completion *cmp;
+
+	down_read(&policy->rwsem);
+	kobj = &policy->kobj;
+	cmp = &policy->kobj_unregister;
+	up_read(&policy->rwsem);
+	kobject_put(kobj);
+
+	/*
+	 * We need to make sure that the underlying kobj is
+	 * actually not referenced anymore by anybody before we
+	 * proceed with unloading.
+	 */
+	pr_debug("waiting for dropping of refcount\n");
+	wait_for_completion(cmp);
+	pr_debug("wait complete\n");
+}
+
 static void cpufreq_policy_free(struct cpufreq_policy *policy)
 {
 	free_cpumask_var(policy->related_cpus);
@@ -986,7 +1002,7 @@ static int __cpufreq_add_dev(struct device *dev, struct subsys_interface *sif,
 	list_for_each_entry(tpolicy, &cpufreq_policy_list, policy_list) {
 		if (cpumask_test_cpu(cpu, tpolicy->related_cpus)) {
 			read_unlock_irqrestore(&cpufreq_driver_lock, flags);
-			ret = cpufreq_add_policy_cpu(tpolicy, cpu, dev, frozen);
+			ret = cpufreq_add_policy_cpu(tpolicy, cpu, dev);
 			up_read(&cpufreq_rwsem);
 			return ret;
 		}
@@ -1096,7 +1112,10 @@ err_get_freq:
 	if (cpufreq_driver->exit)
 		cpufreq_driver->exit(policy);
 err_set_policy_cpu:
+	if (frozen)
+		cpufreq_policy_put_kobj(policy);
 	cpufreq_policy_free(policy);
+
 nomem_out:
 	up_read(&cpufreq_rwsem);
 
@@ -1118,7 +1137,7 @@ static int cpufreq_add_dev(struct device *dev, struct subsys_interface *sif)
 }
 
 static int cpufreq_nominate_new_policy_cpu(struct cpufreq_policy *policy,
-					   unsigned int old_cpu, bool frozen)
+					   unsigned int old_cpu)
 {
 	struct device *cpu_dev;
 	int ret;
@@ -1126,10 +1145,6 @@ static int cpufreq_nominate_new_policy_cpu(struct cpufreq_policy *policy,
 	/* first sibling now owns the new sysfs dir */
 	cpu_dev = get_cpu_device(cpumask_any_but(policy->cpus, old_cpu));
 
-	/* Don't touch sysfs files during light-weight tear-down */
-	if (frozen)
-		return cpu_dev->id;
-
 	sysfs_remove_link(&cpu_dev->kobj, "cpufreq");
 	ret = kobject_move(&policy->kobj, &cpu_dev->kobj);
 	if (ret) {
@@ -1196,7 +1211,7 @@ static int __cpufreq_remove_dev_prepare(struct device *dev,
 		if (!frozen)
 			sysfs_remove_link(&dev->kobj, "cpufreq");
 	} else if (cpus > 1) {
-		new_cpu = cpufreq_nominate_new_policy_cpu(policy, cpu, frozen);
+		new_cpu = cpufreq_nominate_new_policy_cpu(policy, cpu);
 		if (new_cpu >= 0) {
 			update_policy_cpu(policy, new_cpu);
 
@@ -1218,8 +1233,6 @@ static int __cpufreq_remove_dev_finish(struct device *dev,
 	int ret;
 	unsigned long flags;
 	struct cpufreq_policy *policy;
-	struct kobject *kobj;
-	struct completion *cmp;
 
 	read_lock_irqsave(&cpufreq_driver_lock, flags);
 	policy = per_cpu(cpufreq_cpu_data, cpu);
@@ -1249,22 +1262,8 @@ static int __cpufreq_remove_dev_finish(struct device *dev,
 			}
 		}
 
-		if (!frozen) {
-			down_read(&policy->rwsem);
-			kobj = &policy->kobj;
-			cmp = &policy->kobj_unregister;
-			up_read(&policy->rwsem);
-			kobject_put(kobj);
-
-			/*
-			 * We need to make sure that the underlying kobj is
-			 * actually not referenced anymore by anybody before we
-			 * proceed with unloading.
-			 */
-			pr_debug("waiting for dropping of refcount\n");
-			wait_for_completion(cmp);
-			pr_debug("wait complete\n");
-		}
+		if (!frozen)
+			cpufreq_policy_put_kobj(policy);
 
 		/*
 		 * Perform the ->exit() even during light-weight tear-down,