diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ti/wlcore/main.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ti/wlcore/main.c
index 7db6384a245723dec3342f3f6426b6e09efeb145..6ada018fe4a43982412936d17433fec5769a832e 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ti/wlcore/main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ti/wlcore/main.c
@@ -744,32 +744,6 @@ static int wl12xx_fetch_firmware(struct wl1271 *wl, bool plt)
 	return ret;
 }
 
-static void wl1271_fetch_nvs(struct wl1271 *wl)
-{
-	const struct firmware *fw;
-	int ret;
-
-	ret = request_firmware(&fw, WL12XX_NVS_NAME, wl->dev);
-
-	if (ret < 0) {
-		wl1271_debug(DEBUG_BOOT, "could not get nvs file %s: %d",
-			     WL12XX_NVS_NAME, ret);
-		return;
-	}
-
-	wl->nvs = kmemdup(fw->data, fw->size, GFP_KERNEL);
-
-	if (!wl->nvs) {
-		wl1271_error("could not allocate memory for the nvs file");
-		goto out;
-	}
-
-	wl->nvs_len = fw->size;
-
-out:
-	release_firmware(fw);
-}
-
 void wl12xx_queue_recovery_work(struct wl1271 *wl)
 {
 	WARN_ON(!test_bit(WL1271_FLAG_INTENDED_FW_RECOVERY, &wl->flags));
@@ -5153,8 +5127,7 @@ static int wl1271_register_hw(struct wl1271 *wl)
 	if (wl->mac80211_registered)
 		return 0;
 
-	wl1271_fetch_nvs(wl);
-	if (wl->nvs != NULL) {
+	if (wl->nvs_len >= 12) {
 		/* NOTE: The wl->nvs->nvs element must be first, in
 		 * order to simplify the casting, we assume it is at
 		 * the beginning of the wl->nvs structure.
@@ -5419,6 +5392,7 @@ struct ieee80211_hw *wlcore_alloc_hw(size_t priv_size, u32 aggr_buf_size)
 	wl->fw_type = WL12XX_FW_TYPE_NONE;
 	mutex_init(&wl->mutex);
 	mutex_init(&wl->flush_mutex);
+	init_completion(&wl->nvs_loading_complete);
 
 	order = get_order(aggr_buf_size);
 	wl->aggr_buf = (u8 *)__get_free_pages(GFP_KERNEL, order);
@@ -5539,24 +5513,31 @@ static irqreturn_t wl12xx_hardirq(int irq, void *cookie)
 	return IRQ_WAKE_THREAD;
 }
 
-int __devinit wlcore_probe(struct wl1271 *wl, struct platform_device *pdev)
+static void wlcore_nvs_cb(const struct firmware *fw, void *context)
 {
+	struct wl1271 *wl = context;
+	struct platform_device *pdev = wl->pdev;
 	struct wl12xx_platform_data *pdata = pdev->dev.platform_data;
 	unsigned long irqflags;
 	int ret;
 
-	if (!wl->ops || !wl->ptable) {
-		ret = -EINVAL;
-		goto out;
+	if (fw) {
+		wl->nvs = kmemdup(fw->data, fw->size, GFP_KERNEL);
+		if (!wl->nvs) {
+			wl1271_error("Could not allocate nvs data");
+			goto out;
+		}
+		wl->nvs_len = fw->size;
+	} else {
+		wl1271_debug(DEBUG_BOOT, "Could not get nvs file %s",
+			     WL12XX_NVS_NAME);
+		wl->nvs = NULL;
+		wl->nvs_len = 0;
 	}
 
-	wl->dev = &pdev->dev;
-	wl->pdev = pdev;
-	platform_set_drvdata(pdev, wl);
-
 	ret = wl->ops->setup(wl);
 	if (ret < 0)
-		goto out;
+		goto out_free_nvs;
 
 	BUG_ON(wl->num_tx_desc > WLCORE_MAX_TX_DESCRIPTORS);
 
@@ -5578,7 +5559,7 @@ int __devinit wlcore_probe(struct wl1271 *wl, struct platform_device *pdev)
 				   pdev->name, wl);
 	if (ret < 0) {
 		wl1271_error("request_irq() failed: %d", ret);
-		goto out;
+		goto out_free_nvs;
 	}
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_PM
@@ -5637,6 +5618,7 @@ int __devinit wlcore_probe(struct wl1271 *wl, struct platform_device *pdev)
 		goto out_hw_pg_ver;
 	}
 
+	wl->initialized = true;
 	goto out;
 
 out_hw_pg_ver:
@@ -5651,7 +5633,33 @@ int __devinit wlcore_probe(struct wl1271 *wl, struct platform_device *pdev)
 out_irq:
 	free_irq(wl->irq, wl);
 
+out_free_nvs:
+	kfree(wl->nvs);
+
 out:
+	release_firmware(fw);
+	complete_all(&wl->nvs_loading_complete);
+}
+
+int __devinit wlcore_probe(struct wl1271 *wl, struct platform_device *pdev)
+{
+	int ret;
+
+	if (!wl->ops || !wl->ptable)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	wl->dev = &pdev->dev;
+	wl->pdev = pdev;
+	platform_set_drvdata(pdev, wl);
+
+	ret = request_firmware_nowait(THIS_MODULE, FW_ACTION_HOTPLUG,
+				      WL12XX_NVS_NAME, &pdev->dev, GFP_KERNEL,
+				      wl, wlcore_nvs_cb);
+	if (ret < 0) {
+		wl1271_error("request_firmware_nowait failed: %d", ret);
+		complete_all(&wl->nvs_loading_complete);
+	}
+
 	return ret;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(wlcore_probe);
@@ -5660,6 +5668,10 @@ int __devexit wlcore_remove(struct platform_device *pdev)
 {
 	struct wl1271 *wl = platform_get_drvdata(pdev);
 
+	wait_for_completion(&wl->nvs_loading_complete);
+	if (!wl->initialized)
+		return 0;
+
 	if (wl->irq_wake_enabled) {
 		device_init_wakeup(wl->dev, 0);
 		disable_irq_wake(wl->irq);
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ti/wlcore/wlcore.h b/drivers/net/wireless/ti/wlcore/wlcore.h
index 6a0455616289dbdccd2d16d99b656c0dd03d00d1..68584aa0f2b0f731e86b7e1a0c0ea973b3a89ebf 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ti/wlcore/wlcore.h
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ti/wlcore/wlcore.h
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ struct wl1271_stats {
 };
 
 struct wl1271 {
+	bool initialized;
 	struct ieee80211_hw *hw;
 	bool mac80211_registered;
 
@@ -409,6 +410,8 @@ struct wl1271 {
 
 	/* the minimum FW version required for the driver to work */
 	unsigned int min_fw_ver[NUM_FW_VER];
+
+	struct completion nvs_loading_complete;
 };
 
 int __devinit wlcore_probe(struct wl1271 *wl, struct platform_device *pdev);