diff --git a/arch/mips/ar7/gpio.c b/arch/mips/ar7/gpio.c
index c32fbb57441a..f84834229dcf 100644
--- a/arch/mips/ar7/gpio.c
+++ b/arch/mips/ar7/gpio.c
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ int ar7_gpio_disable(unsigned gpio)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(ar7_gpio_disable);
 
-static int __init ar7_gpio_init(void)
+int __init ar7_gpio_init(void)
 {
 	int ret;
 
@@ -128,4 +128,3 @@ static int __init ar7_gpio_init(void)
 				ar7_gpio_chip.chip.ngpio);
 	return ret;
 }
-arch_initcall(ar7_gpio_init);
diff --git a/arch/mips/ar7/prom.c b/arch/mips/ar7/prom.c
index 52385790e5c1..23818d299127 100644
--- a/arch/mips/ar7/prom.c
+++ b/arch/mips/ar7/prom.c
@@ -246,6 +246,8 @@ void __init prom_init(void)
 	ar7_init_cmdline(fw_arg0, (char **)fw_arg1);
 	ar7_init_env((struct env_var *)fw_arg2);
 	console_config();
+
+	ar7_gpio_init();
 }
 
 #define PORT(offset) (KSEG1ADDR(AR7_REGS_UART0 + (offset * 4)))
diff --git a/arch/mips/include/asm/mach-ar7/ar7.h b/arch/mips/include/asm/mach-ar7/ar7.h
index 483ffea9ecb1..ddb413e81d06 100644
--- a/arch/mips/include/asm/mach-ar7/ar7.h
+++ b/arch/mips/include/asm/mach-ar7/ar7.h
@@ -161,4 +161,6 @@ static inline void ar7_device_off(u32 bit)
 	msleep(20);
 }
 
+int __init ar7_gpio_init(void);
+
 #endif /* __AR7_H__ */