diff --git a/fs/exportfs/expfs.c b/fs/exportfs/expfs.c
index ab88d33d106c..ab7feffe2d19 100644
--- a/fs/exportfs/expfs.c
+++ b/fs/exportfs/expfs.c
@@ -393,14 +393,23 @@ int exportfs_encode_inode_fh(struct inode *inode, struct fid *fid,
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(exportfs_encode_inode_fh);
 
+/**
+ * exportfs_encode_fh - encode a file handle from dentry
+ * @dentry:  the object to encode
+ * @fid:     where to store the file handle fragment
+ * @max_len: maximum length to store there
+ * @flags:   properties of the requested file handle
+ *
+ * Returns an enum fid_type or a negative errno.
+ */
 int exportfs_encode_fh(struct dentry *dentry, struct fid *fid, int *max_len,
-		int connectable)
+		       int flags)
 {
 	int error;
 	struct dentry *p = NULL;
 	struct inode *inode = dentry->d_inode, *parent = NULL;
 
-	if (connectable && !S_ISDIR(inode->i_mode)) {
+	if ((flags & EXPORT_FH_CONNECTABLE) && !S_ISDIR(inode->i_mode)) {
 		p = dget_parent(dentry);
 		/*
 		 * note that while p might've ceased to be our parent already,
diff --git a/fs/nfsd/nfsfh.c b/fs/nfsd/nfsfh.c
index ccd8485fee04..31e4505c0df3 100644
--- a/fs/nfsd/nfsfh.c
+++ b/fs/nfsd/nfsfh.c
@@ -414,10 +414,11 @@ static void _fh_update(struct svc_fh *fhp, struct svc_export *exp,
 		struct fid *fid = (struct fid *)
 			(fhp->fh_handle.fh_fsid + fhp->fh_handle.fh_size/4 - 1);
 		int maxsize = (fhp->fh_maxsize - fhp->fh_handle.fh_size)/4;
-		int subtreecheck = !(exp->ex_flags & NFSEXP_NOSUBTREECHECK);
+		int fh_flags = (exp->ex_flags & NFSEXP_NOSUBTREECHECK) ? 0 :
+				EXPORT_FH_CONNECTABLE;
 
 		fhp->fh_handle.fh_fileid_type =
-			exportfs_encode_fh(dentry, fid, &maxsize, subtreecheck);
+			exportfs_encode_fh(dentry, fid, &maxsize, fh_flags);
 		fhp->fh_handle.fh_size += maxsize * 4;
 	} else {
 		fhp->fh_handle.fh_fileid_type = FILEID_ROOT;
diff --git a/include/linux/exportfs.h b/include/linux/exportfs.h
index 9edb29101ec8..fe4967ba61b2 100644
--- a/include/linux/exportfs.h
+++ b/include/linux/exportfs.h
@@ -135,6 +135,8 @@ struct fid {
 	};
 };
 
+#define EXPORT_FH_CONNECTABLE	0x1 /* Encode file handle with parent */
+
 /**
  * struct export_operations - for nfsd to communicate with file systems
  * @encode_fh:      encode a file handle fragment from a dentry
@@ -150,7 +152,7 @@ struct fid {
  * encode_fh:
  *    @encode_fh should store in the file handle fragment @fh (using at most
  *    @max_len bytes) information that can be used by @decode_fh to recover the
- *    file referred to by the &struct dentry @de.  If the @connectable flag is
+ *    file referred to by the &struct dentry @de.  If @flag has CONNECTABLE bit
  *    set, the encode_fh() should store sufficient information so that a good
  *    attempt can be made to find not only the file but also it's place in the
  *    filesystem.   This typically means storing a reference to de->d_parent in
@@ -227,7 +229,7 @@ struct export_operations {
 extern int exportfs_encode_inode_fh(struct inode *inode, struct fid *fid,
 				    int *max_len, struct inode *parent);
 extern int exportfs_encode_fh(struct dentry *dentry, struct fid *fid,
-	int *max_len, int connectable);
+			      int *max_len, int flags);
 extern struct dentry *exportfs_decode_fh_raw(struct vfsmount *mnt,
 					     struct fid *fid, int fh_len,
 					     int fileid_type,