diff --git a/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_ssif.c b/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_ssif.c
index 097c86898608..5673ffff00be 100644
--- a/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_ssif.c
+++ b/drivers/char/ipmi/ipmi_ssif.c
@@ -568,12 +568,16 @@ static void retry_timeout(unsigned long data)
 }
 
 
-static void ssif_alert(struct i2c_client *client, unsigned int data)
+static void ssif_alert(struct i2c_client *client, enum i2c_alert_protocol type,
+		       unsigned int data)
 {
 	struct ssif_info *ssif_info = i2c_get_clientdata(client);
 	unsigned long oflags, *flags;
 	bool do_get = false;
 
+	if (type != I2C_PROTOCOL_SMBUS_ALERT)
+		return;
+
 	ssif_inc_stat(ssif_info, alerts);
 
 	flags = ipmi_ssif_lock_cond(ssif_info, &oflags);
diff --git a/drivers/hwmon/lm90.c b/drivers/hwmon/lm90.c
index e30a5939dc0d..5b62c57e8bfc 100644
--- a/drivers/hwmon/lm90.c
+++ b/drivers/hwmon/lm90.c
@@ -1624,10 +1624,14 @@ static int lm90_remove(struct i2c_client *client)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static void lm90_alert(struct i2c_client *client, unsigned int flag)
+static void lm90_alert(struct i2c_client *client, enum i2c_alert_protocol type,
+		       unsigned int flag)
 {
 	u16 alarms;
 
+	if (type != I2C_PROTOCOL_SMBUS_ALERT)
+		return;
+
 	if (lm90_is_tripped(client, &alarms)) {
 		/*
 		 * Disable ALERT# output, because these chips don't implement
diff --git a/drivers/i2c/i2c-smbus.c b/drivers/i2c/i2c-smbus.c
index abb55d3e76f3..3b6765a4ebe9 100644
--- a/drivers/i2c/i2c-smbus.c
+++ b/drivers/i2c/i2c-smbus.c
@@ -56,7 +56,8 @@ static int smbus_do_alert(struct device *dev, void *addrp)
 	if (client->dev.driver) {
 		driver = to_i2c_driver(client->dev.driver);
 		if (driver->alert)
-			driver->alert(client, data->flag);
+			driver->alert(client, I2C_PROTOCOL_SMBUS_ALERT,
+				      data->flag);
 		else
 			dev_warn(&client->dev, "no driver alert()!\n");
 	} else
diff --git a/include/linux/i2c.h b/include/linux/i2c.h
index 6df7bad8c26c..37a45dcd6592 100644
--- a/include/linux/i2c.h
+++ b/include/linux/i2c.h
@@ -126,6 +126,10 @@ i2c_smbus_read_i2c_block_data_or_emulated(const struct i2c_client *client,
 					  u8 command, u8 length, u8 *values);
 #endif /* I2C */
 
+enum i2c_alert_protocol {
+	I2C_PROTOCOL_SMBUS_ALERT,
+};
+
 /**
  * struct i2c_driver - represent an I2C device driver
  * @class: What kind of i2c device we instantiate (for detect)
@@ -181,7 +185,8 @@ struct i2c_driver {
 	 * For the SMBus alert protocol, there is a single bit of data passed
 	 * as the alert response's low bit ("event flag").
 	 */
-	void (*alert)(struct i2c_client *, unsigned int data);
+	void (*alert)(struct i2c_client *, enum i2c_alert_protocol protocol,
+		      unsigned int data);
 
 	/* a ioctl like command that can be used to perform specific functions
 	 * with the device.