diff --git a/Documentation/kobject.txt b/Documentation/kobject.txt
index 51a8021ee53..f5d2aad65a6 100644
--- a/Documentation/kobject.txt
+++ b/Documentation/kobject.txt
@@ -118,6 +118,10 @@ the name of the kobject, call kobject_rename():
 
     int kobject_rename(struct kobject *kobj, const char *new_name);
 
+Note kobject_rename does perform any locking or have a solid notion of
+what names are valid so the provide must provide their own sanity checking
+and serialization.
+
 There is a function called kobject_set_name() but that is legacy cruft and
 is being removed.  If your code needs to call this function, it is
 incorrect and needs to be fixed.
diff --git a/drivers/base/core.c b/drivers/base/core.c
index 9649d1c422a..8c2cc2648f5 100644
--- a/drivers/base/core.c
+++ b/drivers/base/core.c
@@ -1327,6 +1327,11 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(device_destroy);
  * device_rename - renames a device
  * @dev: the pointer to the struct device to be renamed
  * @new_name: the new name of the device
+ *
+ * It is the responsibility of the caller to provide mutual
+ * exclusion between two different calls of device_rename
+ * on the same device to ensure that new_name is valid and
+ * won't conflict with other devices.
  */
 int device_rename(struct device *dev, char *new_name)
 {
diff --git a/include/linux/sysfs.h b/include/linux/sysfs.h
index b330e289d71..39924a96220 100644
--- a/include/linux/sysfs.h
+++ b/include/linux/sysfs.h
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@
 struct kobject;
 struct module;
 
+extern int kobject_set_name(struct kobject *kobj, const char *name, ...)
+			    __attribute__((format(printf, 2, 3)));
 /* FIXME
  * The *owner field is no longer used, but leave around
  * until the tree gets cleaned up fully.
@@ -147,7 +149,7 @@ static inline void sysfs_remove_dir(struct kobject *kobj)
 
 static inline int sysfs_rename_dir(struct kobject *kobj, const char *new_name)
 {
-	return 0;
+	return kobject_set_name(kobj, "%s", new_name);
 }
 
 static inline int sysfs_move_dir(struct kobject *kobj,
diff --git a/lib/kobject.c b/lib/kobject.c
index fbf0ae28237..ae6bb900bfb 100644
--- a/lib/kobject.c
+++ b/lib/kobject.c
@@ -387,6 +387,11 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(kobject_init_and_add);
  * kobject_rename - change the name of an object
  * @kobj: object in question.
  * @new_name: object's new name
+ *
+ * It is the responsibility of the caller to provide mutual
+ * exclusion between two different calls of kobject_rename
+ * on the same kobject and to ensure that new_name is valid and
+ * won't conflict with other kobjects.
  */
 int kobject_rename(struct kobject *kobj, const char *new_name)
 {
@@ -401,19 +406,6 @@ int kobject_rename(struct kobject *kobj, const char *new_name)
 	if (!kobj->parent)
 		return -EINVAL;
 
-	/* see if this name is already in use */
-	if (kobj->kset) {
-		struct kobject *temp_kobj;
-		temp_kobj = kset_find_obj(kobj->kset, new_name);
-		if (temp_kobj) {
-			printk(KERN_WARNING "kobject '%s' cannot be renamed "
-			       "to '%s' as '%s' is already in existence.\n",
-			       kobject_name(kobj), new_name, new_name);
-			kobject_put(temp_kobj);
-			return -EINVAL;
-		}
-	}
-
 	devpath = kobject_get_path(kobj, GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!devpath) {
 		error = -ENOMEM;