diff --git a/drivers/base/init.c b/drivers/base/init.c
index a9f57c22fb9e2..dab8aa5d28889 100644
--- a/drivers/base/init.c
+++ b/drivers/base/init.c
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include <linux/init.h>
 #include <linux/memory.h>
 #include <linux/of.h>
+#include <linux/backing-dev.h>
 
 #include "base.h"
 
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@
 void __init driver_init(void)
 {
 	/* These are the core pieces */
+	bdi_init(&noop_backing_dev_info);
 	devtmpfs_init();
 	devices_init();
 	buses_init();
diff --git a/include/linux/backing-dev.h b/include/linux/backing-dev.h
index ac7f231b88258..eed9a98eae0d0 100644
--- a/include/linux/backing-dev.h
+++ b/include/linux/backing-dev.h
@@ -121,6 +121,8 @@ int bdi_set_max_ratio(struct backing_dev_info *bdi, unsigned int max_ratio);
 
 extern struct backing_dev_info noop_backing_dev_info;
 
+int bdi_init(struct backing_dev_info *bdi);
+
 /**
  * writeback_in_progress - determine whether there is writeback in progress
  * @wb: bdi_writeback of interest
diff --git a/mm/backing-dev.c b/mm/backing-dev.c
index 02ff66f863587..02c9d5c7276e3 100644
--- a/mm/backing-dev.c
+++ b/mm/backing-dev.c
@@ -229,20 +229,13 @@ static __init int bdi_class_init(void)
 }
 postcore_initcall(bdi_class_init);
 
-static int bdi_init(struct backing_dev_info *bdi);
-
 static int __init default_bdi_init(void)
 {
-	int err;
-
 	bdi_wq = alloc_workqueue("writeback", WQ_MEM_RECLAIM | WQ_UNBOUND |
 				 WQ_SYSFS, 0);
 	if (!bdi_wq)
 		return -ENOMEM;
-
-	err = bdi_init(&noop_backing_dev_info);
-
-	return err;
+	return 0;
 }
 subsys_initcall(default_bdi_init);
 
@@ -784,7 +777,7 @@ static void cgwb_remove_from_bdi_list(struct bdi_writeback *wb)
 
 #endif	/* CONFIG_CGROUP_WRITEBACK */
 
-static int bdi_init(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
+int bdi_init(struct backing_dev_info *bdi)
 {
 	int ret;