diff --git a/drivers/dahdi/dahdi-base.c b/drivers/dahdi/dahdi-base.c
index 908001a..8bba465 100644
--- a/drivers/dahdi/dahdi-base.c
+++ b/drivers/dahdi/dahdi-base.c
@@ -7373,7 +7373,8 @@ int dahdi_assign_device_spans(struct dahdi_device *ddev)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static int auto_assign_spans = 1;
+int auto_assign_spans = 1;
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(auto_assign_spans);
 static const char *UNKNOWN = "";
 
 /**
diff --git a/drivers/dahdi/xpp/xbus-core.c b/drivers/dahdi/xpp/xbus-core.c
index 7f4bf71..c00f20a 100644
--- a/drivers/dahdi/xpp/xbus-core.c
+++ b/drivers/dahdi/xpp/xbus-core.c
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ static DEF_PARM(uint, poll_timeout, 1000, 0644,
 		"Timeout (in jiffies) waiting for units to reply");
 static DEF_PARM_BOOL(rx_tasklet, 0, 0644, "Use receive tasklets");
 static DEF_PARM_BOOL(dahdi_autoreg, 1, 0644,
-		     "Register devices automatically (1) or not (0)");
+		     "Register devices automatically (1) or not (0). UNUSED.");
 
 #ifdef	CONFIG_PROC_FS
 static const struct file_operations xbus_read_proc_ops;
@@ -1118,7 +1118,7 @@ void xbus_populate(void *data)
 	 */
 	xbus_request_sync(xbus, SYNC_MODE_PLL);
 	elect_syncer("xbus_populate(end)");	/* FIXME: try to do it later */
-	if (dahdi_autoreg)
+	if (!auto_assign_spans)
 		xbus_register_dahdi_device(xbus);
 out:
 	XBUS_DBG(DEVICES, xbus, "Leaving\n");
diff --git a/include/dahdi/kernel.h b/include/dahdi/kernel.h
index 3f14727..eef65a9 100644
--- a/include/dahdi/kernel.h
+++ b/include/dahdi/kernel.h
@@ -1279,6 +1279,7 @@ static inline void dahdi_ec_span(struct dahdi_span *span)
 }
 
 extern struct file_operations *dahdi_transcode_fops;
+extern int auto_assign_spans;
 
 /* Don't use these directly -- they're not guaranteed to
    be there. */