diff --git a/include/net/netlink.h b/include/net/netlink.h
index 695e613a207b4e8e68dc4ae253f385f4f0f2ac11..83113dfcbd04b0ee20d0e0d668c535775c1a8589 100644
--- a/include/net/netlink.h
+++ b/include/net/netlink.h
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ struct nl_info {
 	u32			pid;
 };
 
-extern void		netlink_run_queue(struct sock *sk, unsigned int *qlen,
+extern unsigned int	netlink_run_queue(struct sock *sk, unsigned int qlen,
 					  int (*cb)(struct sk_buff *,
 						    struct nlmsghdr *));
 extern int		nlmsg_notify(struct sock *sk, struct sk_buff *skb,
diff --git a/net/core/rtnetlink.c b/net/core/rtnetlink.c
index 1b9c32d79917457aeec83669a96f5d667bae8930..739fbad15c6a7c5046ddcf1452f34a717e127ff4 100644
--- a/net/core/rtnetlink.c
+++ b/net/core/rtnetlink.c
@@ -1320,7 +1320,7 @@ static void rtnetlink_rcv(struct sock *sk, int len)
 
 	do {
 		mutex_lock(&rtnl_mutex);
-		netlink_run_queue(sk, &qlen, &rtnetlink_rcv_msg);
+		qlen = netlink_run_queue(sk, qlen, &rtnetlink_rcv_msg);
 		mutex_unlock(&rtnl_mutex);
 
 		netdev_run_todo();
diff --git a/net/ipv4/inet_diag.c b/net/ipv4/inet_diag.c
index 031cc4856b49bed9da51060bb01bc4c01d6edd81..b04a6ee5a9a118c313bbc450922597cc857f20b6 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/inet_diag.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/inet_diag.c
@@ -845,7 +845,7 @@ static void inet_diag_rcv(struct sock *sk, int len)
 
 	do {
 		mutex_lock(&inet_diag_mutex);
-		netlink_run_queue(sk, &qlen, &inet_diag_rcv_msg);
+		qlen = netlink_run_queue(sk, qlen, &inet_diag_rcv_msg);
 		mutex_unlock(&inet_diag_mutex);
 	} while (qlen);
 }
diff --git a/net/netfilter/nfnetlink.c b/net/netfilter/nfnetlink.c
index fa974e8e0ce61242d54a44e15c2ed91c310f93d2..4aa56e7ff15643b910a64ac17a9fabd0eea242b4 100644
--- a/net/netfilter/nfnetlink.c
+++ b/net/netfilter/nfnetlink.c
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ static void nfnetlink_rcv(struct sock *sk, int len)
 	do {
 		if (nfnl_trylock())
 			return;
-		netlink_run_queue(sk, &qlen, nfnetlink_rcv_msg);
+		qlen = netlink_run_queue(sk, qlen, nfnetlink_rcv_msg);
 		__nfnl_unlock();
 	} while (qlen);
 }
diff --git a/net/netlink/af_netlink.c b/net/netlink/af_netlink.c
index dc9f8c2ab1d5ac51dbaed64027959ad9094612bc..c68888b25756a7a395d687866b5eb8a5bec324a3 100644
--- a/net/netlink/af_netlink.c
+++ b/net/netlink/af_netlink.c
@@ -1629,7 +1629,7 @@ static int netlink_rcv_skb(struct sk_buff *skb, int (*cb)(struct sk_buff *,
 /**
  * nelink_run_queue - Process netlink receive queue.
  * @sk: Netlink socket containing the queue
- * @qlen: Place to store queue length upon entry
+ * @qlen: Initial queue length
  * @cb: Callback function invoked for each netlink message found
  *
  * Processes as much as there was in the queue upon entry and invokes
@@ -1639,35 +1639,37 @@ static int netlink_rcv_skb(struct sk_buff *skb, int (*cb)(struct sk_buff *,
  * returns with a qlen != 0.
  *
  * qlen must be initialized to 0 before the initial entry, afterwards
- * the function may be called repeatedly until qlen reaches 0.
+ * the function may be called repeatedly until the returned qlen is 0.
  *
  * The callback function may return -EINTR to signal that processing
  * of netlink messages shall be interrupted. In this case the message
  * currently being processed will NOT be requeued onto the receive
  * queue.
  */
-void netlink_run_queue(struct sock *sk, unsigned int *qlen,
-		       int (*cb)(struct sk_buff *, struct nlmsghdr *))
+unsigned int netlink_run_queue(struct sock *sk, unsigned int qlen,
+			       int (*cb)(struct sk_buff *, struct nlmsghdr *))
 {
 	struct sk_buff *skb;
 
-	if (!*qlen || *qlen > skb_queue_len(&sk->sk_receive_queue))
-		*qlen = skb_queue_len(&sk->sk_receive_queue);
+	if (!qlen || qlen > skb_queue_len(&sk->sk_receive_queue))
+		qlen = skb_queue_len(&sk->sk_receive_queue);
 
-	for (; *qlen; (*qlen)--) {
+	for (; qlen; qlen--) {
 		skb = skb_dequeue(&sk->sk_receive_queue);
 		if (netlink_rcv_skb(skb, cb)) {
 			if (skb->len)
 				skb_queue_head(&sk->sk_receive_queue, skb);
 			else {
 				kfree_skb(skb);
-				(*qlen)--;
+				qlen--;
 			}
 			break;
 		}
 
 		kfree_skb(skb);
 	}
+
+	return qlen;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/net/netlink/genetlink.c b/net/netlink/genetlink.c
index af8fe26815fa5d20c071b9c46b413c5e0e665256..07ef5d204a0f2ff6aca140de46747fa24f2e932f 100644
--- a/net/netlink/genetlink.c
+++ b/net/netlink/genetlink.c
@@ -485,7 +485,7 @@ static void genl_rcv(struct sock *sk, int len)
 	do {
 		if (genl_trylock())
 			return;
-		netlink_run_queue(sk, &qlen, genl_rcv_msg);
+		qlen = netlink_run_queue(sk, qlen, genl_rcv_msg);
 		genl_unlock();
 	} while (qlen && genl_sock && genl_sock->sk_receive_queue.qlen);
 }
diff --git a/net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c b/net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c
index 1f8e7c22ddbd0cb8d4583eaeeaa01776f3ef6dc9..8e10e9098a83df7116fa35f69212e043570c8078 100644
--- a/net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c
+++ b/net/xfrm/xfrm_user.c
@@ -1887,7 +1887,7 @@ static void xfrm_netlink_rcv(struct sock *sk, int len)
 
 	do {
 		mutex_lock(&xfrm_cfg_mutex);
-		netlink_run_queue(sk, &qlen, &xfrm_user_rcv_msg);
+		qlen = netlink_run_queue(sk, qlen, &xfrm_user_rcv_msg);
 		mutex_unlock(&xfrm_cfg_mutex);
 
 	} while (qlen);