diff --git a/drivers/vfio/vfio_main.c b/drivers/vfio/vfio_main.c
index 27d9186f35d5..b9c6a97d647a 100644
--- a/drivers/vfio/vfio_main.c
+++ b/drivers/vfio/vfio_main.c
@@ -498,6 +498,98 @@ void vfio_uninit_group_dev(struct vfio_device *device)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(vfio_uninit_group_dev);
 
+/* Release helper called by vfio_put_device() */
+void vfio_device_release(struct kref *kref)
+{
+	struct vfio_device *device =
+			container_of(kref, struct vfio_device, kref);
+
+	vfio_uninit_group_dev(device);
+
+	/*
+	 * kvfree() cannot be done here due to a life cycle mess in
+	 * vfio-ccw. Before the ccw part is fixed all drivers are
+	 * required to support @release and call vfio_free_device()
+	 * from there.
+	 */
+	device->ops->release(device);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(vfio_device_release);
+
+/*
+ * Allocate and initialize vfio_device so it can be registered to vfio
+ * core.
+ *
+ * Drivers should use the wrapper vfio_alloc_device() for allocation.
+ * @size is the size of the structure to be allocated, including any
+ * private data used by the driver.
+ *
+ * Driver may provide an @init callback to cover device private data.
+ *
+ * Use vfio_put_device() to release the structure after success return.
+ */
+struct vfio_device *_vfio_alloc_device(size_t size, struct device *dev,
+				       const struct vfio_device_ops *ops)
+{
+	struct vfio_device *device;
+	int ret;
+
+	if (WARN_ON(size < sizeof(struct vfio_device)))
+		return ERR_PTR(-EINVAL);
+
+	device = kvzalloc(size, GFP_KERNEL);
+	if (!device)
+		return ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM);
+
+	ret = vfio_init_device(device, dev, ops);
+	if (ret)
+		goto out_free;
+	return device;
+
+out_free:
+	kvfree(device);
+	return ERR_PTR(ret);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(_vfio_alloc_device);
+
+/*
+ * Initialize a vfio_device so it can be registered to vfio core.
+ *
+ * Only vfio-ccw driver should call this interface.
+ */
+int vfio_init_device(struct vfio_device *device, struct device *dev,
+		     const struct vfio_device_ops *ops)
+{
+	int ret;
+
+	vfio_init_group_dev(device, dev, ops);
+
+	if (ops->init) {
+		ret = ops->init(device);
+		if (ret)
+			goto out_uninit;
+	}
+
+	kref_init(&device->kref);
+	return 0;
+
+out_uninit:
+	vfio_uninit_group_dev(device);
+	return ret;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(vfio_init_device);
+
+/*
+ * The helper called by driver @release callback to free the device
+ * structure. Drivers which don't have private data to clean can
+ * simply use this helper as its @release.
+ */
+void vfio_free_device(struct vfio_device *device)
+{
+	kvfree(device);
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(vfio_free_device);
+
 static struct vfio_group *vfio_noiommu_group_alloc(struct device *dev,
 		enum vfio_group_type type)
 {
diff --git a/include/linux/vfio.h b/include/linux/vfio.h
index 0e2826559091..f67cac700e6f 100644
--- a/include/linux/vfio.h
+++ b/include/linux/vfio.h
@@ -47,7 +47,8 @@ struct vfio_device {
 	struct kvm *kvm;
 
 	/* Members below here are private, not for driver use */
-	refcount_t refcount;
+	struct kref kref;	/* object life cycle */
+	refcount_t refcount;	/* user count on registered device*/
 	unsigned int open_count;
 	struct completion comp;
 	struct list_head group_next;
@@ -57,6 +58,8 @@ struct vfio_device {
 /**
  * struct vfio_device_ops - VFIO bus driver device callbacks
  *
+ * @init: initialize private fields in device structure
+ * @release: Reclaim private fields in device structure
  * @open_device: Called when the first file descriptor is opened for this device
  * @close_device: Opposite of open_device
  * @read: Perform read(2) on device file descriptor
@@ -74,6 +77,8 @@ struct vfio_device {
  */
 struct vfio_device_ops {
 	char	*name;
+	int	(*init)(struct vfio_device *vdev);
+	void	(*release)(struct vfio_device *vdev);
 	int	(*open_device)(struct vfio_device *vdev);
 	void	(*close_device)(struct vfio_device *vdev);
 	ssize_t	(*read)(struct vfio_device *vdev, char __user *buf,
@@ -161,6 +166,24 @@ static inline int vfio_check_feature(u32 flags, size_t argsz, u32 supported_ops,
 	return 1;
 }
 
+struct vfio_device *_vfio_alloc_device(size_t size, struct device *dev,
+				       const struct vfio_device_ops *ops);
+#define vfio_alloc_device(dev_struct, member, dev, ops)				\
+	container_of(_vfio_alloc_device(sizeof(struct dev_struct) +		\
+					BUILD_BUG_ON_ZERO(offsetof(		\
+						struct dev_struct, member)),	\
+					dev, ops),				\
+		     struct dev_struct, member)
+
+int vfio_init_device(struct vfio_device *device, struct device *dev,
+		     const struct vfio_device_ops *ops);
+void vfio_free_device(struct vfio_device *device);
+void vfio_device_release(struct kref *kref);
+static inline void vfio_put_device(struct vfio_device *device)
+{
+	kref_put(&device->kref, vfio_device_release);
+}
+
 void vfio_init_group_dev(struct vfio_device *device, struct device *dev,
 			 const struct vfio_device_ops *ops);
 void vfio_uninit_group_dev(struct vfio_device *device);