diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/xscale/ixp4xx_eth.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/xscale/ixp4xx_eth.c
index e811bf0d23cb..799ffebba491 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/xscale/ixp4xx_eth.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/xscale/ixp4xx_eth.c
@@ -519,25 +519,14 @@ static int ixp4xx_mdio_write(struct mii_bus *bus, int phy_id, int location,
 	return ret;
 }
 
-static int ixp4xx_mdio_register(void)
+static int ixp4xx_mdio_register(struct eth_regs __iomem *regs)
 {
 	int err;
 
 	if (!(mdio_bus = mdiobus_alloc()))
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
-	if (cpu_is_ixp43x()) {
-		/* IXP43x lacks NPE-B and uses NPE-C for MII PHY access */
-		if (!(ixp4xx_read_feature_bits() & IXP4XX_FEATURE_NPEC_ETH))
-			return -ENODEV;
-		mdio_regs = (struct eth_regs __iomem *)IXP4XX_EthC_BASE_VIRT;
-	} else {
-		/* All MII PHY accesses use NPE-B Ethernet registers */
-		if (!(ixp4xx_read_feature_bits() & IXP4XX_FEATURE_NPEB_ETH0))
-			return -ENODEV;
-		mdio_regs = (struct eth_regs __iomem *)IXP4XX_EthB_BASE_VIRT;
-	}
-
+	mdio_regs = regs;
 	__raw_writel(DEFAULT_CORE_CNTRL, &mdio_regs->core_control);
 	spin_lock_init(&mdio_lock);
 	mdio_bus->name = "IXP4xx MII Bus";
@@ -1376,7 +1365,7 @@ static const struct net_device_ops ixp4xx_netdev_ops = {
 	.ndo_validate_addr = eth_validate_addr,
 };
 
-static int eth_init_one(struct platform_device *pdev)
+static int ixp4xx_eth_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 {
 	struct port *port;
 	struct net_device *dev;
@@ -1386,7 +1375,7 @@ static int eth_init_one(struct platform_device *pdev)
 	char phy_id[MII_BUS_ID_SIZE + 3];
 	int err;
 
-	if (!(dev = alloc_etherdev(sizeof(struct port))))
+	if (!(dev = devm_alloc_etherdev(&pdev->dev, sizeof(struct port))))
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
 	SET_NETDEV_DEV(dev, &pdev->dev);
@@ -1396,20 +1385,51 @@ static int eth_init_one(struct platform_device *pdev)
 
 	switch (port->id) {
 	case IXP4XX_ETH_NPEA:
+		/* If the MDIO bus is not up yet, defer probe */
+		if (!mdio_bus)
+			return -EPROBE_DEFER;
 		port->regs = (struct eth_regs __iomem *)IXP4XX_EthA_BASE_VIRT;
 		regs_phys  = IXP4XX_EthA_BASE_PHYS;
 		break;
 	case IXP4XX_ETH_NPEB:
+		/*
+		 * On all except IXP43x, NPE-B is used for the MDIO bus.
+		 * If there is no NPE-B in the feature set, bail out, else
+		 * register the MDIO bus.
+		 */
+		if (!cpu_is_ixp43x()) {
+			if (!(ixp4xx_read_feature_bits() &
+			      IXP4XX_FEATURE_NPEB_ETH0))
+				return -ENODEV;
+			/* Else register the MDIO bus on NPE-B */
+			if ((err = ixp4xx_mdio_register(IXP4XX_EthC_BASE_VIRT)))
+				return err;
+		}
+		if (!mdio_bus)
+			return -EPROBE_DEFER;
 		port->regs = (struct eth_regs __iomem *)IXP4XX_EthB_BASE_VIRT;
 		regs_phys  = IXP4XX_EthB_BASE_PHYS;
 		break;
 	case IXP4XX_ETH_NPEC:
+		/*
+		 * IXP43x lacks NPE-B and uses NPE-C for the MDIO bus access,
+		 * of there is no NPE-C, no bus, nothing works, so bail out.
+		 */
+		if (cpu_is_ixp43x()) {
+			if (!(ixp4xx_read_feature_bits() &
+			      IXP4XX_FEATURE_NPEC_ETH))
+				return -ENODEV;
+			/* Else register the MDIO bus on NPE-C */
+			if ((err = ixp4xx_mdio_register(IXP4XX_EthC_BASE_VIRT)))
+				return err;
+		}
+		if (!mdio_bus)
+			return -EPROBE_DEFER;
 		port->regs = (struct eth_regs __iomem *)IXP4XX_EthC_BASE_VIRT;
 		regs_phys  = IXP4XX_EthC_BASE_PHYS;
 		break;
 	default:
-		err = -ENODEV;
-		goto err_free;
+		return -ENODEV;
 	}
 
 	dev->netdev_ops = &ixp4xx_netdev_ops;
@@ -1418,10 +1438,8 @@ static int eth_init_one(struct platform_device *pdev)
 
 	netif_napi_add(dev, &port->napi, eth_poll, NAPI_WEIGHT);
 
-	if (!(port->npe = npe_request(NPE_ID(port->id)))) {
-		err = -EIO;
-		goto err_free;
-	}
+	if (!(port->npe = npe_request(NPE_ID(port->id))))
+		return -EIO;
 
 	port->mem_res = request_mem_region(regs_phys, REGS_SIZE, dev->name);
 	if (!port->mem_res) {
@@ -1467,12 +1485,10 @@ static int eth_init_one(struct platform_device *pdev)
 	release_resource(port->mem_res);
 err_npe_rel:
 	npe_release(port->npe);
-err_free:
-	free_netdev(dev);
 	return err;
 }
 
-static int eth_remove_one(struct platform_device *pdev)
+static int ixp4xx_eth_remove(struct platform_device *pdev)
 {
 	struct net_device *dev = platform_get_drvdata(pdev);
 	struct phy_device *phydev = dev->phydev;
@@ -1480,45 +1496,21 @@ static int eth_remove_one(struct platform_device *pdev)
 
 	unregister_netdev(dev);
 	phy_disconnect(phydev);
+	ixp4xx_mdio_remove();
 	npe_port_tab[NPE_ID(port->id)] = NULL;
 	npe_release(port->npe);
 	release_resource(port->mem_res);
-	free_netdev(dev);
 	return 0;
 }
 
 static struct platform_driver ixp4xx_eth_driver = {
 	.driver.name	= DRV_NAME,
-	.probe		= eth_init_one,
-	.remove		= eth_remove_one,
+	.probe		= ixp4xx_eth_probe,
+	.remove		= ixp4xx_eth_remove,
 };
-
-static int __init eth_init_module(void)
-{
-	int err;
-
-	/*
-	 * FIXME: we bail out on device tree boot but this really needs
-	 * to be fixed in a nicer way: this registers the MDIO bus before
-	 * even matching the driver infrastructure, we should only probe
-	 * detected hardware.
-	 */
-	if (of_have_populated_dt())
-		return -ENODEV;
-	if ((err = ixp4xx_mdio_register()))
-		return err;
-	return platform_driver_register(&ixp4xx_eth_driver);
-}
-
-static void __exit eth_cleanup_module(void)
-{
-	platform_driver_unregister(&ixp4xx_eth_driver);
-	ixp4xx_mdio_remove();
-}
+module_platform_driver(ixp4xx_eth_driver);
 
 MODULE_AUTHOR("Krzysztof Halasa");
 MODULE_DESCRIPTION("Intel IXP4xx Ethernet driver");
 MODULE_LICENSE("GPL v2");
 MODULE_ALIAS("platform:ixp4xx_eth");
-module_init(eth_init_module);
-module_exit(eth_cleanup_module);
