diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
index c39ce0b663b4..94371f69122c 100755
--- a/scripts/checkpatch.pl
+++ b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
@@ -2509,6 +2509,11 @@ sub process {
 		if ($line =~ /^.\s*__initcall\s*\(/) {
 			WARN("please use device_initcall() instead of __initcall()\n" . $herecurr);
 		}
+# check for struct file_operations, ensure they are const.
+		if ($line =~ /\bstruct\s+file_operations\b/ &&
+		    $line !~ /\bconst\b/) {
+			WARN("struct file_operations should normally be const\n" . $herecurr);
+		}
 
 # use of NR_CPUS is usually wrong
 # ignore definitions of NR_CPUS and usage to define arrays as likely right