diff --git a/include/linux/proc_fs.h b/include/linux/proc_fs.h
index 608e60a74c3c124293bb3db038d3a1e8ba804432..9d117f61d976fb17ca6a6b19ccfba3f7bf63037b 100644
--- a/include/linux/proc_fs.h
+++ b/include/linux/proc_fs.h
@@ -44,6 +44,10 @@ extern int remove_proc_subtree(const char *, struct proc_dir_entry *);
 
 #else /* CONFIG_PROC_FS */
 
+static inline void proc_root_init(void)
+{
+}
+
 static inline void proc_flush_task(struct task_struct *task)
 {
 }
diff --git a/init/main.c b/init/main.c
index 4de815c0309a5cd7612011aeacac139d23b1496f..17d47bcdf5733bfea3a8005ca655dc89c46933b2 100644
--- a/init/main.c
+++ b/init/main.c
@@ -629,9 +629,7 @@ asmlinkage __visible void __init start_kernel(void)
 	signals_init();
 	/* rootfs populating might need page-writeback */
 	page_writeback_init();
-#ifdef CONFIG_PROC_FS
 	proc_root_init();
-#endif
 	cgroup_init();
 	cpuset_init();
 	taskstats_init_early();