diff --git a/drivers/rtc/class.c b/drivers/rtc/class.c
index 587d251be45..8b3cd31d6a6 100644
--- a/drivers/rtc/class.c
+++ b/drivers/rtc/class.c
@@ -156,6 +156,8 @@ struct rtc_device *rtc_device_register(const char *name, struct device *dev,
 	strlcpy(rtc->name, name, RTC_DEVICE_NAME_SIZE);
 	snprintf(rtc->dev.bus_id, BUS_ID_SIZE, "rtc%d", id);
 
+	rtc_dev_prepare(rtc);
+
 	err = device_register(&rtc->dev);
 	if (err)
 		goto exit_kfree;
diff --git a/drivers/rtc/rtc-core.h b/drivers/rtc/rtc-core.h
index d81a278fcde..5f9df7430a2 100644
--- a/drivers/rtc/rtc-core.h
+++ b/drivers/rtc/rtc-core.h
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 extern void __init rtc_dev_init(void);
 extern void __exit rtc_dev_exit(void);
+extern void rtc_dev_prepare(struct rtc_device *rtc);
 extern void rtc_dev_add_device(struct rtc_device *rtc);
 extern void rtc_dev_del_device(struct rtc_device *rtc);
 
@@ -15,6 +16,10 @@ static inline void rtc_dev_exit(void)
 {
 }
 
+static inline void rtc_dev_prepare(struct rtc_device *rtc)
+{
+}
+
 static inline void rtc_dev_add_device(struct rtc_device *rtc)
 {
 }
diff --git a/drivers/rtc/rtc-dev.c b/drivers/rtc/rtc-dev.c
index 2c13433089a..671b14ec28b 100644
--- a/drivers/rtc/rtc-dev.c
+++ b/drivers/rtc/rtc-dev.c
@@ -396,7 +396,7 @@ static const struct file_operations rtc_dev_fops = {
 
 /* insertion/removal hooks */
 
-void rtc_dev_add_device(struct rtc_device *rtc)
+void rtc_dev_prepare(struct rtc_device *rtc)
 {
 	if (!rtc_devt)
 		return;
@@ -418,7 +418,10 @@ void rtc_dev_add_device(struct rtc_device *rtc)
 
 	cdev_init(&rtc->char_dev, &rtc_dev_fops);
 	rtc->char_dev.owner = rtc->owner;
+}
 
+void rtc_dev_add_device(struct rtc_device *rtc)
+{
 	if (cdev_add(&rtc->char_dev, rtc->dev.devt, 1))
 		printk(KERN_WARNING "%s: failed to add char device %d:%d\n",
 			rtc->name, MAJOR(rtc_devt), rtc->id);