diff --git a/drivers/dma/of-dma.c b/drivers/dma/of-dma.c
index 0b88dd3..e8fe9dc 100644
--- a/drivers/dma/of-dma.c
+++ b/drivers/dma/of-dma.c
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@
  * @np:		device node to get DMA request from
  * @name:	name of desired channel
  *
- * Returns pointer to appropriate dma channel on success or NULL on error.
+ * Returns pointer to appropriate DMA channel on success or an error pointer.
  */
 struct dma_chan *of_dma_request_slave_channel(struct device_node *np,
 					      const char *name)
@@ -152,17 +152,18 @@
 	struct of_dma		*ofdma;
 	struct dma_chan		*chan;
 	int			count, i;
+	int			ret_no_channel = -ENODEV;
 
 	if (!np || !name) {
 		pr_err("%s: not enough information provided\n", __func__);
-		return NULL;
+		return ERR_PTR(-ENODEV);
 	}
 
 	count = of_property_count_strings(np, "dma-names");
 	if (count < 0) {
 		pr_err("%s: dma-names property of node '%s' missing or empty\n",
 			__func__, np->full_name);
-		return NULL;
+		return ERR_PTR(-ENODEV);
 	}
 
 	for (i = 0; i < count; i++) {
@@ -172,10 +173,12 @@
 		mutex_lock(&of_dma_lock);
 		ofdma = of_dma_find_controller(&dma_spec);
 
-		if (ofdma)
+		if (ofdma) {
 			chan = ofdma->of_dma_xlate(&dma_spec, ofdma);
-		else
+		} else {
+			ret_no_channel = -EPROBE_DEFER;
 			chan = NULL;
+		}
 
 		mutex_unlock(&of_dma_lock);
 
@@ -185,7 +188,7 @@
 			return chan;
 	}
 
-	return NULL;
+	return ERR_PTR(ret_no_channel);
 }
 
 /**