diff --git a/drivers/spi/spi-coldfire-qspi.c b/drivers/spi/spi-coldfire-qspi.c
index fdf37636cb9f..b45f44de85dc 100644
--- a/drivers/spi/spi-coldfire-qspi.c
+++ b/drivers/spi/spi-coldfire-qspi.c
@@ -410,9 +410,9 @@ static int mcfqspi_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 	platform_set_drvdata(pdev, host);
 	pm_runtime_enable(&pdev->dev);
 
-	status = devm_spi_register_controller(&pdev->dev, host);
+	status = spi_register_controller(host);
 	if (status) {
-		dev_dbg(&pdev->dev, "devm_spi_register_controller failed\n");
+		dev_dbg(&pdev->dev, "failed to register controller\n");
 		goto fail1;
 	}
 
@@ -436,11 +436,17 @@ static void mcfqspi_remove(struct platform_device *pdev)
 	struct spi_controller *host = platform_get_drvdata(pdev);
 	struct mcfqspi *mcfqspi = spi_controller_get_devdata(host);
 
+	spi_controller_get(host);
+
+	spi_unregister_controller(host);
+
 	pm_runtime_disable(&pdev->dev);
 	/* disable the hardware (set the baud rate to 0) */
 	mcfqspi_wr_qmr(mcfqspi, MCFQSPI_QMR_MSTR);
 
 	mcfqspi_cs_teardown(mcfqspi);
+
+	spi_controller_put(host);
 }
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_PM_SLEEP