diff --git a/mm/memory_hotplug.c b/mm/memory_hotplug.c
index f827cf4cb4e54a171b13bc601bf2f8d1f163cde9..030ce8a5bb0e758e7ea04cc0c851955275356426 100644
--- a/mm/memory_hotplug.c
+++ b/mm/memory_hotplug.c
@@ -72,7 +72,9 @@ static void get_page_bootmem(unsigned long info,  struct page *page, int type)
 	atomic_inc(&page->_count);
 }
 
-void put_page_bootmem(struct page *page)
+/* reference to __meminit __free_pages_bootmem is valid
+ * so use __ref to tell modpost not to generate a warning */
+void __ref put_page_bootmem(struct page *page)
 {
 	int type;