diff --git a/drivers/staging/winbond/core.h b/drivers/staging/winbond/core.h
index 64b73bbf747456f9d1dbbf00fc04bb28deec0db7..c6dd223e722fae7604be31ab8ad7732588153328 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/winbond/core.h
+++ b/drivers/staging/winbond/core.h
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ struct wbsoft_priv {
 	struct iw_statistics iw_stats;
 
 	u8 LinkName[WB_MAX_LINK_NAME_LEN];
+
+	bool enabled;
 };
 
 #endif /* __WINBOND_CORE_H */
diff --git a/drivers/staging/winbond/wbusb.c b/drivers/staging/winbond/wbusb.c
index 0f70101603ccb9304b004b11de908bd9206b2991..246f20b3b793fec8a1834ced63b08ee7fb96375f 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/winbond/wbusb.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/winbond/wbusb.c
@@ -46,8 +46,6 @@ static struct ieee80211_supported_band wbsoft_band_2GHz = {
 	.n_bitrates	= ARRAY_SIZE(wbsoft_rates),
 };
 
-int wbsoft_enabled;
-
 static int wbsoft_add_interface(struct ieee80211_hw *dev,
 				 struct ieee80211_if_init_conf *conf)
 {
@@ -129,8 +127,10 @@ static int wbsoft_tx(struct ieee80211_hw *dev, struct sk_buff *skb)
 
 static int wbsoft_start(struct ieee80211_hw *dev)
 {
-	wbsoft_enabled = 1;
-	printk("wbsoft_start called\n");
+	struct wbsoft_priv *priv = dev->priv;
+
+	priv->enabled = true;
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -393,10 +393,11 @@ static int wb35_probe(struct usb_interface *intf, const struct usb_device_id *id
 
 void packet_came(struct ieee80211_hw *hw, char *pRxBufferAddress, int PacketSize)
 {
+	struct wbsoft_priv *priv = hw->priv;
 	struct sk_buff *skb;
 	struct ieee80211_rx_status rx_status = {0};
 
-	if (!wbsoft_enabled)
+	if (!priv->enabled)
 		return;
 
 	skb = dev_alloc_skb(PacketSize);