diff --git a/kernel/trace/ftrace.c b/kernel/trace/ftrace.c
index cc615f8..ddf23a2 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/ftrace.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/ftrace.c
@@ -1655,60 +1655,6 @@
 	return ret;
 }
 
-enum {
-	MATCH_FULL,
-	MATCH_FRONT_ONLY,
-	MATCH_MIDDLE_ONLY,
-	MATCH_END_ONLY,
-};
-
-/*
- * (static function - no need for kernel doc)
- *
- * Pass in a buffer containing a glob and this function will
- * set search to point to the search part of the buffer and
- * return the type of search it is (see enum above).
- * This does modify buff.
- *
- * Returns enum type.
- *  search returns the pointer to use for comparison.
- *  not returns 1 if buff started with a '!'
- *     0 otherwise.
- */
-static int
-ftrace_setup_glob(char *buff, int len, char **search, int *not)
-{
-	int type = MATCH_FULL;
-	int i;
-
-	if (buff[0] == '!') {
-		*not = 1;
-		buff++;
-		len--;
-	} else
-		*not = 0;
-
-	*search = buff;
-
-	for (i = 0; i < len; i++) {
-		if (buff[i] == '*') {
-			if (!i) {
-				*search = buff + 1;
-				type = MATCH_END_ONLY;
-			} else {
-				if (type == MATCH_END_ONLY)
-					type = MATCH_MIDDLE_ONLY;
-				else
-					type = MATCH_FRONT_ONLY;
-				buff[i] = 0;
-				break;
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	return type;
-}
-
 static int ftrace_match(char *str, char *regex, int len, int type)
 {
 	int matched = 0;
@@ -1757,7 +1703,7 @@
 	int not;
 
 	flag = enable ? FTRACE_FL_FILTER : FTRACE_FL_NOTRACE;
-	type = ftrace_setup_glob(buff, len, &search, &not);
+	type = filter_parse_regex(buff, len, &search, &not);
 
 	search_len = strlen(search);
 
@@ -1825,7 +1771,7 @@
 	}
 
 	if (strlen(buff)) {
-		type = ftrace_setup_glob(buff, strlen(buff), &search, &not);
+		type = filter_parse_regex(buff, strlen(buff), &search, &not);
 		search_len = strlen(search);
 	}
 
@@ -1990,7 +1936,7 @@
 	int count = 0;
 	char *search;
 
-	type = ftrace_setup_glob(glob, strlen(glob), &search, &not);
+	type = filter_parse_regex(glob, strlen(glob), &search, &not);
 	len = strlen(search);
 
 	/* we do not support '!' for function probes */
@@ -2067,7 +2013,7 @@
 	else if (glob) {
 		int not;
 
-		type = ftrace_setup_glob(glob, strlen(glob), &search, &not);
+		type = filter_parse_regex(glob, strlen(glob), &search, &not);
 		len = strlen(search);
 
 		/* we do not support '!' for function probes */
@@ -2520,7 +2466,7 @@
 		return -ENODEV;
 
 	/* decode regex */
-	type = ftrace_setup_glob(buffer, strlen(buffer), &search, &not);
+	type = filter_parse_regex(buffer, strlen(buffer), &search, &not);
 	if (not)
 		return -EINVAL;
 
diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace.h b/kernel/trace/trace.h
index 8d0db60..db6b83e 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace.h
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace.h
@@ -709,6 +709,13 @@
 
 typedef int (*regex_match_func)(char *str, struct regex *r, int len);
 
+enum regex_type {
+	MATCH_FULL,
+	MATCH_FRONT_ONLY,
+	MATCH_MIDDLE_ONLY,
+	MATCH_END_ONLY,
+};
+
 struct regex {
 	char			pattern[MAX_FILTER_STR_VAL];
 	int			len;
@@ -727,6 +734,8 @@
 	int 			pop_n;
 };
 
+extern enum regex_type
+filter_parse_regex(char *buff, int len, char **search, int *not);
 extern void print_event_filter(struct ftrace_event_call *call,
 			       struct trace_seq *s);
 extern int apply_event_filter(struct ftrace_event_call *call,
diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace_events_filter.c b/kernel/trace/trace_events_filter.c
index d3c94c1..8c194de 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace_events_filter.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace_events_filter.c
@@ -279,15 +279,14 @@
 	return 0;
 }
 
-enum regex_type {
-	MATCH_FULL,
-	MATCH_FRONT_ONLY,
-	MATCH_MIDDLE_ONLY,
-	MATCH_END_ONLY,
-};
-
-/*
- * Pass in a buffer containing a regex and this function will
+/**
+ * filter_parse_regex - parse a basic regex
+ * @buff:   the raw regex
+ * @len:    length of the regex
+ * @search: will point to the beginning of the string to compare
+ * @not:    tell whether the match will have to be inverted
+ *
+ * This passes in a buffer containing a regex and this function will
  * set search to point to the search part of the buffer and
  * return the type of search it is (see enum above).
  * This does modify buff.
@@ -297,8 +296,7 @@
  *  not returns 1 if buff started with a '!'
  *     0 otherwise.
  */
-static enum regex_type
-filter_parse_regex(char *buff, int len, char **search, int *not)
+enum regex_type filter_parse_regex(char *buff, int len, char **search, int *not)
 {
 	int type = MATCH_FULL;
 	int i;