diff --git a/mm/mempool.c b/mm/mempool.c
index 11f0d0a5e0f..e3a802a0cea 100644
--- a/mm/mempool.c
+++ b/mm/mempool.c
@@ -27,7 +27,15 @@ static void *remove_element(mempool_t *pool)
 	return pool->elements[--pool->curr_nr];
 }
 
-static void free_pool(mempool_t *pool)
+/**
+ * mempool_destroy - deallocate a memory pool
+ * @pool:      pointer to the memory pool which was allocated via
+ *             mempool_create().
+ *
+ * Free all reserved elements in @pool and @pool itself.  This function
+ * only sleeps if the free_fn() function sleeps.
+ */
+void mempool_destroy(mempool_t *pool)
 {
 	while (pool->curr_nr) {
 		void *element = remove_element(pool);
@@ -36,6 +44,7 @@ static void free_pool(mempool_t *pool)
 	kfree(pool->elements);
 	kfree(pool);
 }
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(mempool_destroy);
 
 /**
  * mempool_create - create a memory pool
@@ -86,7 +95,7 @@ mempool_t *mempool_create_node(int min_nr, mempool_alloc_t *alloc_fn,
 
 		element = pool->alloc(GFP_KERNEL, pool->pool_data);
 		if (unlikely(!element)) {
-			free_pool(pool);
+			mempool_destroy(pool);
 			return NULL;
 		}
 		add_element(pool, element);
@@ -171,23 +180,6 @@ out:
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(mempool_resize);
 
-/**
- * mempool_destroy - deallocate a memory pool
- * @pool:      pointer to the memory pool which was allocated via
- *             mempool_create().
- *
- * this function only sleeps if the free_fn() function sleeps. The caller
- * has to guarantee that all elements have been returned to the pool (ie:
- * freed) prior to calling mempool_destroy().
- */
-void mempool_destroy(mempool_t *pool)
-{
-	/* Check for outstanding elements */
-	BUG_ON(pool->curr_nr != pool->min_nr);
-	free_pool(pool);
-}
-EXPORT_SYMBOL(mempool_destroy);
-
 /**
  * mempool_alloc - allocate an element from a specific memory pool
  * @pool:      pointer to the memory pool which was allocated via