diff --git a/drivers/acpi/acpi_ipmi.c b/drivers/acpi/acpi_ipmi.c
index 0555f68c2dfd68c2ddc4609fc56b9d4dd738de94..5fba4dab5d088635bd62815e8c3817b4c35a3016 100644
--- a/drivers/acpi/acpi_ipmi.c
+++ b/drivers/acpi/acpi_ipmi.c
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
 /* the IPMI timeout is 5s */
 #define IPMI_TIMEOUT			(5000)
 #define ACPI_IPMI_MAX_MSG_LENGTH	64
+/* 2s should be suffient for SMI being selected */
+#define ACPI_IPMI_SMI_SELECTION_TIMEOUT	(2 * HZ)
 
 struct acpi_ipmi_device {
 	/* the device list attached to driver_data.ipmi_devices */
@@ -54,6 +56,7 @@ struct ipmi_driver_data {
 	 * to this selected global IPMI system interface.
 	 */
 	struct acpi_ipmi_device *selected_smi;
+	struct completion smi_selection_done;
 };
 
 struct acpi_ipmi_msg {
@@ -463,8 +466,10 @@ static void ipmi_register_bmc(int iface, struct device *dev)
 		if (temp->handle == handle)
 			goto err_lock;
 	}
-	if (!driver_data.selected_smi)
+	if (!driver_data.selected_smi) {
 		driver_data.selected_smi = ipmi_device;
+		complete(&driver_data.smi_selection_done);
+	}
 	list_add_tail(&ipmi_device->head, &driver_data.ipmi_devices);
 	mutex_unlock(&driver_data.ipmi_lock);
 
@@ -578,6 +583,20 @@ acpi_ipmi_space_handler(u32 function, acpi_physical_address address,
 	return status;
 }
 
+int acpi_wait_for_acpi_ipmi(void)
+{
+	long ret;
+
+	ret = wait_for_completion_interruptible_timeout(&driver_data.smi_selection_done,
+							ACPI_IPMI_SMI_SELECTION_TIMEOUT);
+
+	if (ret <= 0)
+		return -ETIMEDOUT;
+
+	return 0;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(acpi_wait_for_acpi_ipmi);
+
 static int __init acpi_ipmi_init(void)
 {
 	int result;
@@ -586,6 +605,8 @@ static int __init acpi_ipmi_init(void)
 	if (acpi_disabled)
 		return 0;
 
+	init_completion(&driver_data.smi_selection_done);
+
 	status = acpi_install_address_space_handler(ACPI_ROOT_OBJECT,
 						    ACPI_ADR_SPACE_IPMI,
 						    &acpi_ipmi_space_handler,
diff --git a/include/acpi/acpi_bus.h b/include/acpi/acpi_bus.h
index 5de954e2b18aaac5c0796466d256f6cd10e1130d..5a69cbd58c5e766631b0610229414c0318f33a0d 100644
--- a/include/acpi/acpi_bus.h
+++ b/include/acpi/acpi_bus.h
@@ -976,11 +976,16 @@ static inline void acpi_put_acpi_dev(struct acpi_device *adev)
 {
 	acpi_dev_put(adev);
 }
+
+int acpi_wait_for_acpi_ipmi(void);
+
 #else	/* CONFIG_ACPI */
 
 static inline int register_acpi_bus_type(void *bus) { return 0; }
 static inline int unregister_acpi_bus_type(void *bus) { return 0; }
 
+static inline int acpi_wait_for_acpi_ipmi(void) { return 0; }
+
 #endif				/* CONFIG_ACPI */
 
 #endif /*__ACPI_BUS_H__*/