diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/mvpp2/mvpp2_debugfs.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/mvpp2/mvpp2_debugfs.c
index 4a3baa7e0142..0eec05d905eb 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/mvpp2/mvpp2_debugfs.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/marvell/mvpp2/mvpp2_debugfs.c
@@ -700,10 +700,10 @@ void mvpp2_dbgfs_cleanup(struct mvpp2 *priv)
 
 void mvpp2_dbgfs_init(struct mvpp2 *priv, const char *name)
 {
-	struct dentry *mvpp2_dir, *mvpp2_root;
+	static struct dentry *mvpp2_root;
+	struct dentry *mvpp2_dir;
 	int ret, i;
 
-	mvpp2_root = debugfs_lookup(MVPP2_DRIVER_NAME, NULL);
 	if (!mvpp2_root)
 		mvpp2_root = debugfs_create_dir(MVPP2_DRIVER_NAME, NULL);