diff --git a/arch/loongarch/mm/pageattr.c b/arch/loongarch/mm/pageattr.c
index 99165903908a4e..b701076605b358 100644
--- a/arch/loongarch/mm/pageattr.c
+++ b/arch/loongarch/mm/pageattr.c
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ static int __set_memory(unsigned long addr, int numpages, pgprot_t set_mask, pgp
 		return 0;
 
 	mmap_write_lock(&init_mm);
-	ret = walk_page_range_novma(&init_mm, start, end, &pageattr_ops, NULL, &masks);
+	ret = walk_page_range_kernel(start, end, &pageattr_ops, NULL, &masks);
 	mmap_write_unlock(&init_mm);
 
 	flush_tlb_kernel_range(start, end);
diff --git a/arch/openrisc/kernel/dma.c b/arch/openrisc/kernel/dma.c
index 3a7b5baaa45066..bc9ce5cc2e2649 100644
--- a/arch/openrisc/kernel/dma.c
+++ b/arch/openrisc/kernel/dma.c
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ void *arch_dma_set_uncached(void *cpu_addr, size_t size)
 	 * them and setting the cache-inhibit bit.
 	 */
 	mmap_write_lock(&init_mm);
-	error = walk_page_range_novma(&init_mm, va, va + size,
+	error = walk_page_range_kernel(va, va + size,
 			&set_nocache_walk_ops, NULL, NULL);
 	mmap_write_unlock(&init_mm);
 
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ void arch_dma_clear_uncached(void *cpu_addr, size_t size)
 
 	mmap_write_lock(&init_mm);
 	/* walk_page_range shouldn't be able to fail here */
-	WARN_ON(walk_page_range_novma(&init_mm, va, va + size,
+	WARN_ON(walk_page_range_kernel(va, va + size,
 			&clear_nocache_walk_ops, NULL, NULL));
 	mmap_write_unlock(&init_mm);
 }
diff --git a/arch/riscv/mm/pageattr.c b/arch/riscv/mm/pageattr.c
index d815448758a19c..80e0cd08a4e55f 100644
--- a/arch/riscv/mm/pageattr.c
+++ b/arch/riscv/mm/pageattr.c
@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@ static int __set_memory(unsigned long addr, int numpages, pgprot_t set_mask,
 			if (ret)
 				goto unlock;
 
-			ret = walk_page_range_novma(&init_mm, lm_start, lm_end,
+			ret = walk_page_range_kernel(lm_start, lm_end,
 						    &pageattr_ops, NULL, &masks);
 			if (ret)
 				goto unlock;
@@ -317,13 +317,13 @@ static int __set_memory(unsigned long addr, int numpages, pgprot_t set_mask,
 		if (ret)
 			goto unlock;
 
-		ret = walk_page_range_novma(&init_mm, lm_start, lm_end,
+		ret = walk_page_range_kernel(lm_start, lm_end,
 					    &pageattr_ops, NULL, &masks);
 		if (ret)
 			goto unlock;
 	}
 
-	ret =  walk_page_range_novma(&init_mm, start, end, &pageattr_ops, NULL,
+	ret =  walk_page_range_kernel(start, end, &pageattr_ops, NULL,
 				     &masks);
 
 unlock:
@@ -335,7 +335,7 @@ static int __set_memory(unsigned long addr, int numpages, pgprot_t set_mask,
 	 */
 	flush_tlb_all();
 #else
-	ret =  walk_page_range_novma(&init_mm, start, end, &pageattr_ops, NULL,
+	ret =  walk_page_range_kernel(start, end, &pageattr_ops, NULL,
 				     &masks);
 
 	mmap_write_unlock(&init_mm);
diff --git a/include/linux/pagewalk.h b/include/linux/pagewalk.h
index 9700a29f8afbc9..1c2dc3ae071916 100644
--- a/include/linux/pagewalk.h
+++ b/include/linux/pagewalk.h
@@ -129,6 +129,9 @@ struct mm_walk {
 int walk_page_range(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long start,
 		unsigned long end, const struct mm_walk_ops *ops,
 		void *private);
+int walk_page_range_kernel(unsigned long start,
+		unsigned long end, const struct mm_walk_ops *ops,
+		pgd_t *pgd, void *private);
 int walk_page_range_novma(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long start,
 			  unsigned long end, const struct mm_walk_ops *ops,
 			  pgd_t *pgd,
diff --git a/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c b/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
index 27245e86df2500..724033d9d4a16b 100644
--- a/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
+++ b/mm/hugetlb_vmemmap.c
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ static int vmemmap_remap_range(unsigned long start, unsigned long end,
 	VM_BUG_ON(!PAGE_ALIGNED(start | end));
 
 	mmap_read_lock(&init_mm);
-	ret = walk_page_range_novma(&init_mm, start, end, &vmemmap_remap_ops,
+	ret = walk_page_range_kernel(start, end, &vmemmap_remap_ops,
 				    NULL, walk);
 	mmap_read_unlock(&init_mm);
 	if (ret)
diff --git a/mm/pagewalk.c b/mm/pagewalk.c
index e478777c86e196..d27347ffcd6348 100644
--- a/mm/pagewalk.c
+++ b/mm/pagewalk.c
@@ -584,9 +584,28 @@ int walk_page_range(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long start,
 	return walk_page_range_mm(mm, start, end, ops, private);
 }
 
+static int __walk_page_range_novma(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long start,
+		unsigned long end, const struct mm_walk_ops *ops,
+		pgd_t *pgd, void *private)
+{
+	struct mm_walk walk = {
+		.ops		= ops,
+		.mm		= mm,
+		.pgd		= pgd,
+		.private	= private,
+		.no_vma		= true
+	};
+
+	if (start >= end || !walk.mm)
+		return -EINVAL;
+	if (!check_ops_valid(ops))
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	return walk_pgd_range(start, end, &walk);
+}
+
 /**
- * walk_page_range_novma - walk a range of pagetables not backed by a vma
- * @mm:		mm_struct representing the target process of page table walk
+ * walk_page_range_kernel - walk a range of kernel pagetables.
  * @start:	start address of the virtual address range
  * @end:	end address of the virtual address range
  * @ops:	operation to call during the walk
@@ -596,56 +615,69 @@ int walk_page_range(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long start,
  * Similar to walk_page_range() but can walk any page tables even if they are
  * not backed by VMAs. Because 'unusual' entries may be walked this function
  * will also not lock the PTEs for the pte_entry() callback. This is useful for
- * walking the kernel pages tables or page tables for firmware.
+ * walking kernel pages tables or page tables for firmware.
  *
  * Note: Be careful to walk the kernel pages tables, the caller may be need to
  * take other effective approaches (mmap lock may be insufficient) to prevent
  * the intermediate kernel page tables belonging to the specified address range
  * from being freed (e.g. memory hot-remove).
  */
+int walk_page_range_kernel(unsigned long start, unsigned long end,
+		const struct mm_walk_ops *ops, pgd_t *pgd, void *private)
+{
+	struct mm_struct *mm = &init_mm;
+
+	/*
+	 * Kernel intermediate page tables are usually not freed, so the mmap
+	 * read lock is sufficient. But there are some exceptions.
+	 * E.g. memory hot-remove. In which case, the mmap lock is insufficient
+	 * to prevent the intermediate kernel pages tables belonging to the
+	 * specified address range from being freed. The caller should take
+	 * other actions to prevent this race.
+	 */
+	mmap_assert_locked(mm);
+
+	return __walk_page_range_novma(mm, start, end, ops, pgd, private);
+}
+
+/**
+ * walk_page_range_novma - walk a range of pagetables not backed by a vma
+ * @mm:		mm_struct representing the target process of page table walk
+ * @start:	start address of the virtual address range
+ * @end:	end address of the virtual address range
+ * @ops:	operation to call during the walk
+ * @pgd:	pgd to walk if different from mm->pgd
+ * @private:	private data for callbacks' usage
+ *
+ * Similar to walk_page_range() but can walk any page tables even if they are
+ * not backed by VMAs. Because 'unusual' entries may be walked this function
+ * will also not lock the PTEs for the pte_entry() callback.
+ *
+ * This is for debugging purposes ONLY.
+ */
 int walk_page_range_novma(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long start,
 			  unsigned long end, const struct mm_walk_ops *ops,
 			  pgd_t *pgd,
 			  void *private)
 {
-	struct mm_walk walk = {
-		.ops		= ops,
-		.mm		= mm,
-		.pgd		= pgd,
-		.private	= private,
-		.no_vma		= true
-	};
-
-	if (start >= end || !walk.mm)
-		return -EINVAL;
-	if (!check_ops_valid(ops))
-		return -EINVAL;
+	/*
+	 * For convenience, we allow this function to also traverse kernel
+	 * mappings.
+	 */
+	if (mm == &init_mm)
+		return walk_page_range_kernel(start, end, ops, pgd, private);
 
 	/*
-	 * 1) For walking the user virtual address space:
-	 *
 	 * The mmap lock protects the page walker from changes to the page
 	 * tables during the walk.  However a read lock is insufficient to
 	 * protect those areas which don't have a VMA as munmap() detaches
 	 * the VMAs before downgrading to a read lock and actually tearing
 	 * down PTEs/page tables. In which case, the mmap write lock should
-	 * be hold.
-	 *
-	 * 2) For walking the kernel virtual address space:
-	 *
-	 * The kernel intermediate page tables usually do not be freed, so
-	 * the mmap map read lock is sufficient. But there are some exceptions.
-	 * E.g. memory hot-remove. In which case, the mmap lock is insufficient
-	 * to prevent the intermediate kernel pages tables belonging to the
-	 * specified address range from being freed. The caller should take
-	 * other actions to prevent this race.
+	 * be held.
 	 */
-	if (mm == &init_mm)
-		mmap_assert_locked(walk.mm);
-	else
-		mmap_assert_write_locked(walk.mm);
+	mmap_assert_write_locked(mm);
 
-	return walk_pgd_range(start, end, &walk);
+	return __walk_page_range_novma(mm, start, end, ops, pgd, private);
 }
 
 int walk_page_range_vma(struct vm_area_struct *vma, unsigned long start,