diff --git a/drivers/vfio/virqfd.c b/drivers/vfio/virqfd.c
index 5967899645c5c2e13946774bec063a30b2dab10a..3d19aaf0e6c90447bb3b7500ab614dc4466fb188 100644
--- a/drivers/vfio/virqfd.c
+++ b/drivers/vfio/virqfd.c
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 #include <linux/slab.h>
 
 static struct workqueue_struct *vfio_irqfd_cleanup_wq;
-DEFINE_SPINLOCK(virqfd_lock);
+static DEFINE_SPINLOCK(virqfd_lock);
 
 int __init vfio_virqfd_init(void)
 {