diff --git a/include/linux/kallsyms.h b/include/linux/kallsyms.h
index 1cebcbc28b474d9f7af1d4061f0e30ba60347aa8..3e3b92dabe3bb08783df230036c2f2069a784317 100644
--- a/include/linux/kallsyms.h
+++ b/include/linux/kallsyms.h
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 
 
 #define KSYM_NAME_LEN 127
+#define KSYM_SYMBOL_LEN (sizeof("%s+%#lx/%#lx [%s]") + KSYM_NAME_LEN +	\
+			 2*(BITS_PER_LONG*3/10) + MODULE_NAME_LEN + 1)
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_KALLSYMS
 /* Lookup the address for a symbol. Returns 0 if not found. */
@@ -22,7 +24,10 @@ const char *kallsyms_lookup(unsigned long addr,
 			    unsigned long *offset,
 			    char **modname, char *namebuf);
 
-/* Replace "%s" in format with address, if found */
+/* Look up a kernel symbol and return it in a text buffer. */
+extern int sprint_symbol(char *buffer, unsigned long address);
+
+/* Look up a kernel symbol and print it to the kernel messages. */
 extern void __print_symbol(const char *fmt, unsigned long address);
 
 #else /* !CONFIG_KALLSYMS */
@@ -47,6 +52,12 @@ static inline const char *kallsyms_lookup(unsigned long addr,
 	return NULL;
 }
 
+static inline int sprint_symbol(char *buffer, unsigned long addr)
+{
+	*buffer = '\0';
+	return 0;
+}
+
 /* Stupid that this does nothing, but I didn't create this mess. */
 #define __print_symbol(fmt, addr)
 #endif /*CONFIG_KALLSYMS*/
diff --git a/kernel/kallsyms.c b/kernel/kallsyms.c
index 6f294ff4f9eec46f448dd9eb30fcb0b2ed47e6dc..5a0de8409739588a0710cb46f204d8cb262f77a9 100644
--- a/kernel/kallsyms.c
+++ b/kernel/kallsyms.c
@@ -267,27 +267,33 @@ const char *kallsyms_lookup(unsigned long addr,
 	return NULL;
 }
 
-/* Replace "%s" in format with address, or returns -errno. */
-void __print_symbol(const char *fmt, unsigned long address)
+/* Look up a kernel symbol and return it in a text buffer. */
+int sprint_symbol(char *buffer, unsigned long address)
 {
 	char *modname;
 	const char *name;
 	unsigned long offset, size;
 	char namebuf[KSYM_NAME_LEN+1];
-	char buffer[sizeof("%s+%#lx/%#lx [%s]") + KSYM_NAME_LEN +
-		    2*(BITS_PER_LONG*3/10) + MODULE_NAME_LEN + 1];
 
 	name = kallsyms_lookup(address, &size, &offset, &modname, namebuf);
-
 	if (!name)
-		sprintf(buffer, "0x%lx", address);
+		return sprintf(buffer, "0x%lx", address);
 	else {
 		if (modname)
-			sprintf(buffer, "%s+%#lx/%#lx [%s]", name, offset,
+			return sprintf(buffer, "%s+%#lx/%#lx [%s]", name, offset,
 				size, modname);
 		else
-			sprintf(buffer, "%s+%#lx/%#lx", name, offset, size);
+			return sprintf(buffer, "%s+%#lx/%#lx", name, offset, size);
 	}
+}
+
+/* Look up a kernel symbol and print it to the kernel messages. */
+void __print_symbol(const char *fmt, unsigned long address)
+{
+	char buffer[KSYM_SYMBOL_LEN];
+
+	sprint_symbol(buffer, address);
+
 	printk(fmt, buffer);
 }
 
@@ -452,3 +458,4 @@ static int __init kallsyms_init(void)
 __initcall(kallsyms_init);
 
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(__print_symbol);
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(sprint_symbol);