diff --git a/drivers/base/swnode.c b/drivers/base/swnode.c
index 37179a8b1ceb..fa3719ef80e4 100644
--- a/drivers/base/swnode.c
+++ b/drivers/base/swnode.c
@@ -938,6 +938,9 @@ int software_node_register(const struct software_node *node)
 	if (software_node_to_swnode(node))
 		return -EEXIST;
 
+	if (node->parent && !parent)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
 	return PTR_ERR_OR_ZERO(swnode_register(node, parent, 0));
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(software_node_register);
@@ -1002,25 +1005,33 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(fwnode_remove_software_node);
 /**
  * device_add_software_node - Assign software node to a device
  * @dev: The device the software node is meant for.
- * @swnode: The software node.
+ * @node: The software node.
  *
- * This function will register @swnode and make it the secondary firmware node
- * pointer of @dev. If @dev has no primary node, then @swnode will become the primary
- * node.
+ * This function will make @node the secondary firmware node pointer of @dev. If
+ * @dev has no primary node, then @node will become the primary node. The
+ * function will register @node automatically if it wasn't already registered.
  */
-int device_add_software_node(struct device *dev, const struct software_node *swnode)
+int device_add_software_node(struct device *dev, const struct software_node *node)
 {
+	struct swnode *swnode;
 	int ret;
 
 	/* Only one software node per device. */
 	if (dev_to_swnode(dev))
 		return -EBUSY;
 
-	ret = software_node_register(swnode);
-	if (ret)
-		return ret;
+	swnode = software_node_to_swnode(node);
+	if (swnode) {
+		kobject_get(&swnode->kobj);
+	} else {
+		ret = software_node_register(node);
+		if (ret)
+			return ret;
 
-	set_secondary_fwnode(dev, software_node_fwnode(swnode));
+		swnode = software_node_to_swnode(node);
+	}
+
+	set_secondary_fwnode(dev, &swnode->fwnode);
 
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/include/linux/property.h b/include/linux/property.h
index dafccfce0262..dd4687b56239 100644
--- a/include/linux/property.h
+++ b/include/linux/property.h
@@ -488,7 +488,7 @@ fwnode_create_software_node(const struct property_entry *properties,
 			    const struct fwnode_handle *parent);
 void fwnode_remove_software_node(struct fwnode_handle *fwnode);
 
-int device_add_software_node(struct device *dev, const struct software_node *swnode);
+int device_add_software_node(struct device *dev, const struct software_node *node);
 void device_remove_software_node(struct device *dev);
 
 int device_create_managed_software_node(struct device *dev,