diff --git a/include/linux/kthread.h b/include/linux/kthread.h
index 00dd957e245..aabc8a13ba7 100644
--- a/include/linux/kthread.h
+++ b/include/linux/kthread.h
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@
 
 struct task_struct *kthread_create(int (*threadfn)(void *data),
 				   void *data,
-				   const char namefmt[], ...);
+				   const char namefmt[], ...)
+	__attribute__((format(printf, 3, 4)));
 
 /**
  * kthread_run - create and wake a thread.