diff --git a/drivers/rpmsg/rpmsg_core.c b/drivers/rpmsg/rpmsg_core.c
index c1d4990beab0..458ddfc09120 100644
--- a/drivers/rpmsg/rpmsg_core.c
+++ b/drivers/rpmsg/rpmsg_core.c
@@ -332,7 +332,8 @@ field##_store(struct device *dev, struct device_attribute *attr,	\
 	      const char *buf, size_t sz)				\
 {									\
 	struct rpmsg_device *rpdev = to_rpmsg_device(dev);		\
-	char *new, *old;						\
+	const char *old;						\
+	char *new;							\
 									\
 	new = kstrndup(buf, sz, GFP_KERNEL);				\
 	if (!new)							\