diff --git a/drivers/net/phy/mdio_bus.c b/drivers/net/phy/mdio_bus.c
index 53f034fc2ef7..ed764638b449 100644
--- a/drivers/net/phy/mdio_bus.c
+++ b/drivers/net/phy/mdio_bus.c
@@ -540,6 +540,8 @@ int __mdiobus_register(struct mii_bus *bus, struct module *owner)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
+	bus->state = MDIOBUS_DEV_REGISTERED;
+
 	mutex_init(&bus->mdio_lock);
 	mutex_init(&bus->shared_lock);
 
@@ -647,7 +649,7 @@ void mdiobus_free(struct mii_bus *bus)
 		return;
 	}
 
-	BUG_ON(bus->state != MDIOBUS_UNREGISTERED);
+	BUG_ON(bus->state != MDIOBUS_UNREGISTERED && bus->state != MDIOBUS_DEV_REGISTERED);
 	bus->state = MDIOBUS_RELEASED;
 
 	put_device(&bus->dev);
diff --git a/include/linux/phy.h b/include/linux/phy.h
index 736e1d1a47c4..41d2ccdacd5e 100644
--- a/include/linux/phy.h
+++ b/include/linux/phy.h
@@ -343,6 +343,7 @@ struct mii_bus {
 		MDIOBUS_REGISTERED,
 		MDIOBUS_UNREGISTERED,
 		MDIOBUS_RELEASED,
+		MDIOBUS_DEV_REGISTERED,
 	} state;
 
 	/** @dev: Kernel device representation */