Subject: [PATCH net-next] net: remove unnecessary module_init/exit functions

From: Ethan Nelson-Moore <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2026 16:42:56 -0800

Many network drivers have unnecessary empty module_init and module_exit
functions. Remove them (including some that just print a message). Note
that if a module_init function exists, a module_exit function must also
exist; otherwise, the module cannot be unloaded.

Signed-off-by: Ethan Nelson-Moore <[email-masked]>
---
 drivers/net/arcnet/com20020.c                 | 16 ----------
 drivers/net/can/sja1000/sja1000.c             | 16 ----------
 drivers/net/ethernet/8390/8390.c              | 14 ---------
 drivers/net/ethernet/8390/8390p.c             | 11 -------
 drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlxsw/pci.c     | 12 --------
 drivers/net/hamradio/hdlcdrv.c                | 20 -------------
 drivers/net/net_failover.c                    | 13 ---------
 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/common.c       | 12 --------
 .../realtek/rtlwifi/btcoexist/rtl_btc.c       | 13 ---------
 drivers/net/wireless/rsi/rsi_91x_main.c       | 29 -------------------
 10 files changed, 156 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/net/arcnet/com20020.c b/drivers/net/arcnet/com20020.c
index a0053e3992a3..b8526805ffac 100644
--- a/drivers/net/arcnet/com20020.c
+++ b/drivers/net/arcnet/com20020.c
@@ -401,19 +401,3 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(com20020_netdev_ops);
 
 MODULE_DESCRIPTION("ARCnet COM20020 chipset core driver");
 MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
-
-#ifdef MODULE
-
-static int __init com20020_module_init(void)
-{
-	if (BUGLVL(D_NORMAL))
-		pr_info("%s\n", "COM20020 chipset support (by David Woodhouse et al.)");
-	return 0;
-}
-
-static void __exit com20020_module_exit(void)
-{
-}
-module_init(com20020_module_init);
-module_exit(com20020_module_exit);
-#endif				/* MODULE */
diff --git a/drivers/net/can/sja1000/sja1000.c b/drivers/net/can/sja1000/sja1000.c
index a8fa0d6516b9..7c5aa8d399d4 100644
--- a/drivers/net/can/sja1000/sja1000.c
+++ b/drivers/net/can/sja1000/sja1000.c
@@ -725,19 +725,3 @@ void unregister_sja1000dev(struct net_device *dev)
 	unregister_candev(dev);
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(unregister_sja1000dev);
-
-static __init int sja1000_init(void)
-{
-	printk(KERN_INFO "%s CAN netdevice driver\n", DRV_NAME);
-
-	return 0;
-}
-
-module_init(sja1000_init);
-
-static __exit void sja1000_exit(void)
-{
-	printk(KERN_INFO "%s: driver removed\n", DRV_NAME);
-}
-
-module_exit(sja1000_exit);
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/8390/8390.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/8390/8390.c
index c5636245f1ca..8e4354568f04 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/8390/8390.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/8390/8390.c
@@ -86,19 +86,5 @@ void NS8390_init(struct net_device *dev, int startp)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(NS8390_init);
 
-#if defined(MODULE)
-
-static int __init ns8390_module_init(void)
-{
-	return 0;
-}
-
-static void __exit ns8390_module_exit(void)
-{
-}
-
-module_init(ns8390_module_init);
-module_exit(ns8390_module_exit);
-#endif /* MODULE */
 MODULE_DESCRIPTION("National Semiconductor 8390 core driver");
 MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/8390/8390p.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/8390/8390p.c
index 6d429b11e9c6..a0bfc8e34f79 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/8390/8390p.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/8390/8390p.c
@@ -91,16 +91,5 @@ void NS8390p_init(struct net_device *dev, int startp)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(NS8390p_init);
 
-static int __init NS8390p_init_module(void)
-{
-	return 0;
-}
-
-static void __exit NS8390p_cleanup_module(void)
-{
-}
-
-module_init(NS8390p_init_module);
-module_exit(NS8390p_cleanup_module);
 MODULE_DESCRIPTION("National Semiconductor 8390 core for ISA driver");
 MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlxsw/pci.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlxsw/pci.c
index 8769cba2c746..7da9ef254b72 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlxsw/pci.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlxsw/pci.c
@@ -2542,18 +2542,6 @@ void mlxsw_pci_driver_unregister(struct pci_driver *pci_driver)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(mlxsw_pci_driver_unregister);
 
-static int __init mlxsw_pci_module_init(void)
-{
-	return 0;
-}
-
-static void __exit mlxsw_pci_module_exit(void)
-{
-}
-
-module_init(mlxsw_pci_module_init);
-module_exit(mlxsw_pci_module_exit);
-
 MODULE_LICENSE("Dual BSD/GPL");
 MODULE_AUTHOR("Jiri Pirko <[email-masked]>");
 MODULE_DESCRIPTION("Mellanox switch PCI interface driver");
diff --git a/drivers/net/hamradio/hdlcdrv.c b/drivers/net/hamradio/hdlcdrv.c
index 2263029d1a20..3b88e465d08f 100644
--- a/drivers/net/hamradio/hdlcdrv.c
+++ b/drivers/net/hamradio/hdlcdrv.c
@@ -742,26 +742,6 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(hdlcdrv_unregister);
 
 /* --------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
-static int __init hdlcdrv_init_driver(void)
-{
-	printk(KERN_INFO "hdlcdrv: (C) 1996-2000 Thomas Sailer HB9JNX/AE4WA\n");
-	printk(KERN_INFO "hdlcdrv: version 0.8\n");
-	return 0;
-}
-
-/* --------------------------------------------------------------------- */
-
-static void __exit hdlcdrv_cleanup_driver(void)
-{
-	printk(KERN_INFO "hdlcdrv: cleanup\n");
-}
-
-/* --------------------------------------------------------------------- */
-
 MODULE_AUTHOR("Thomas M. Sailer, [email-masked], [email-masked]");
 MODULE_DESCRIPTION("Packet Radio network interface HDLC encoder/decoder");
 MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
-module_init(hdlcdrv_init_driver);
-module_exit(hdlcdrv_cleanup_driver);
-
-/* --------------------------------------------------------------------- */
diff --git a/drivers/net/net_failover.c b/drivers/net/net_failover.c
index 5b50d9186f12..d0361aaf25ef 100644
--- a/drivers/net/net_failover.c
+++ b/drivers/net/net_failover.c
@@ -819,18 +819,5 @@ void net_failover_destroy(struct failover *failover)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(net_failover_destroy);
 
-static __init int
-net_failover_init(void)
-{
-	return 0;
-}
-module_init(net_failover_init);
-
-static __exit
-void net_failover_exit(void)
-{
-}
-module_exit(net_failover_exit);
-
 MODULE_DESCRIPTION("Failover driver for Paravirtual drivers");
 MODULE_LICENSE("GPL v2");
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/common.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/common.c
index ffcf2276eb92..f55b3afb3777 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/common.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/common.c
@@ -403,15 +403,3 @@ void ath9k_cmn_init_crypto(struct ath_hw *ah)
 		ath_hw_keyreset(common, (u16) i);
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(ath9k_cmn_init_crypto);
-
-static int __init ath9k_cmn_init(void)
-{
-	return 0;
-}
-module_init(ath9k_cmn_init);
-
-static void __exit ath9k_cmn_exit(void)
-{
-	return;
-}
-module_exit(ath9k_cmn_exit);
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/btcoexist/rtl_btc.c b/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/btcoexist/rtl_btc.c
index 4641999f3fe9..e88d92d3ae7a 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/btcoexist/rtl_btc.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/btcoexist/rtl_btc.c
@@ -519,16 +519,3 @@ MODULE_AUTHOR("Realtek WlanFAE	<[email-masked]>");
 MODULE_AUTHOR("Larry Finger	<[email-masked]>");
 MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
 MODULE_DESCRIPTION("Realtek 802.11n PCI wireless core");
-
-static int __init rtl_btcoexist_module_init(void)
-{
-	return 0;
-}
-
-static void __exit rtl_btcoexist_module_exit(void)
-{
-	return;
-}
-
-module_init(rtl_btcoexist_module_init);
-module_exit(rtl_btcoexist_module_exit);
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/rsi/rsi_91x_main.c b/drivers/net/wireless/rsi/rsi_91x_main.c
index 2112d8d277a9..a9bb37d5d581 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/rsi/rsi_91x_main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/rsi/rsi_91x_main.c
@@ -425,35 +425,6 @@ void rsi_91x_deinit(struct rsi_hw *adapter)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(rsi_91x_deinit);
 
-/**
- * rsi_91x_hal_module_init() - This function is invoked when the module is
- *			       loaded into the kernel.
- *			       It registers the client driver.
- * @void: Void.
- *
- * Return: 0 on success, -1 on failure.
- */
-static int rsi_91x_hal_module_init(void)
-{
-	rsi_dbg(INIT_ZONE, "%s: Module init called\n", __func__);
-	return 0;
-}
-
-/**
- * rsi_91x_hal_module_exit() - This function is called at the time of
- *			       removing/unloading the module.
- *			       It unregisters the client driver.
- * @void: Void.
- *
- * Return: None.
- */
-static void rsi_91x_hal_module_exit(void)
-{
-	rsi_dbg(INIT_ZONE, "%s: Module exit called\n", __func__);
-}
-
-module_init(rsi_91x_hal_module_init);
-module_exit(rsi_91x_hal_module_exit);
 MODULE_AUTHOR("Redpine Signals Inc");
 MODULE_DESCRIPTION("Station driver for RSI 91x devices");
 MODULE_VERSION("0.1");
-- 
2.43.0