diff --git a/drivers/base/core.c b/drivers/base/core.c
index 72eccae4904b..422cfcad486d 100644
--- a/drivers/base/core.c
+++ b/drivers/base/core.c
@@ -759,6 +759,21 @@ static void device_remove_class_symlinks(struct device *dev)
 	sysfs_remove_link(&dev->kobj, "subsystem");
 }
 
+/**
+ * dev_set_name - set a device name
+ * @dev: device
+ */
+int dev_set_name(struct device *dev, const char *fmt, ...)
+{
+	va_list vargs;
+
+	va_start(vargs, fmt);
+	vsnprintf(dev->bus_id, sizeof(dev->bus_id), fmt, vargs);
+	va_end(vargs);
+	return 0;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(dev_set_name);
+
 /**
  * device_add - add device to device hierarchy.
  * @dev: device.
diff --git a/include/linux/device.h b/include/linux/device.h
index 14616e80213c..6a2d04c011bc 100644
--- a/include/linux/device.h
+++ b/include/linux/device.h
@@ -385,6 +385,9 @@ static inline const char *dev_name(struct device *dev)
 	return dev->bus_id;
 }
 
+extern int dev_set_name(struct device *dev, const char *name, ...)
+			__attribute__((format(printf, 2, 3)));
+
 #ifdef CONFIG_NUMA
 static inline int dev_to_node(struct device *dev)
 {