diff --git a/include/net/ieee80211.h b/include/net/ieee80211.h
index 51a20b5f3b5d5a186e200527ba7127de2f5646c5..185423c6d22e8c0788879a5f6076bf5c00899614 100644
--- a/include/net/ieee80211.h
+++ b/include/net/ieee80211.h
@@ -167,8 +167,19 @@ do { if (ieee80211_debug_level & (level)) \
 #define IEEE80211_DEBUG(level, fmt, args...) do {} while (0)
 #endif	/* CONFIG_IEEE80211_DEBUG */
 
+
+/* debug macros not dependent on CONFIG_IEEE80211_DEBUG */
+
+#define MAC_FMT "%02x:%02x:%02x:%02x:%02x:%02x"
+#define MAC_ARG(x) ((u8*)(x))[0],((u8*)(x))[1],((u8*)(x))[2],((u8*)(x))[3],((u8*)(x))[4],((u8*)(x))[5]
+
+/* escape_essid() is intended to be used in debug (and possibly error)
+ * messages. It should never be used for passing essid to user space. */
+const char *escape_essid(const char *essid, u8 essid_len);
+
+
 /*
- * To use the debug system;
+ * To use the debug system:
  *
  * If you are defining a new debug classification, simply add it to the #define
  * list here in the form of:
@@ -622,8 +633,6 @@ enum ieee80211_state {
 
 #define DEFAULT_MAX_SCAN_AGE (15 * HZ)
 #define DEFAULT_FTS 2346
-#define MAC_FMT "%02x:%02x:%02x:%02x:%02x:%02x"
-#define MAC_ARG(x) ((u8*)(x))[0],((u8*)(x))[1],((u8*)(x))[2],((u8*)(x))[3],((u8*)(x))[4],((u8*)(x))[5]
 
 
 #define CFG_IEEE80211_RESERVE_FCS (1<<0)
@@ -827,27 +836,5 @@ extern inline int ieee80211_get_scans(struct ieee80211_device *ieee)
 	return ieee->scans;
 }
 
-static inline const char *escape_essid(const char *essid, u8 essid_len) {
-	static char escaped[IW_ESSID_MAX_SIZE * 2 + 1];
-	const char *s = essid;
-	char *d = escaped;
-
-	if (ieee80211_is_empty_essid(essid, essid_len)) {
-		memcpy(escaped, "<hidden>", sizeof("<hidden>"));
-		return escaped;
-	}
 
-	essid_len = min(essid_len, (u8)IW_ESSID_MAX_SIZE);
-	while (essid_len--) {
-		if (*s == '\0') {
-			*d++ = '\\';
-			*d++ = '0';
-			s++;
-		} else {
-			*d++ = *s++;
-		}
-	}
-	*d = '\0';
-	return escaped;
-}
 #endif /* IEEE80211_H */
diff --git a/net/ieee80211/ieee80211_module.c b/net/ieee80211/ieee80211_module.c
index e0802b8755a025b8550aa4e7f331d333ab1f4a2c..553acb2e93d56a5049c56124dbe6d0ec1e9de6ff 100644
--- a/net/ieee80211/ieee80211_module.c
+++ b/net/ieee80211/ieee80211_module.c
@@ -269,5 +269,31 @@ module_exit(ieee80211_exit);
 module_init(ieee80211_init);
 #endif
 
+
+const char *escape_essid(const char *essid, u8 essid_len) {
+	static char escaped[IW_ESSID_MAX_SIZE * 2 + 1];
+	const char *s = essid;
+	char *d = escaped;
+
+	if (ieee80211_is_empty_essid(essid, essid_len)) {
+		memcpy(escaped, "<hidden>", sizeof("<hidden>"));
+		return escaped;
+	}
+
+	essid_len = min(essid_len, (u8)IW_ESSID_MAX_SIZE);
+	while (essid_len--) {
+		if (*s == '\0') {
+			*d++ = '\\';
+			*d++ = '0';
+			s++;
+		} else {
+			*d++ = *s++;
+		}
+	}
+	*d = '\0';
+	return escaped;
+}
+
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(alloc_ieee80211);
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(free_ieee80211);
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(escape_essid);