diff --git a/drivers/media/platform/video-mux.c b/drivers/media/platform/video-mux.c
index ddd0e338f9e4..3d2a5c2b4c08 100644
--- a/drivers/media/platform/video-mux.c
+++ b/drivers/media/platform/video-mux.c
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 
 struct video_mux {
 	struct v4l2_subdev subdev;
+	struct v4l2_async_notifier notifier;
 	struct media_pad *pads;
 	struct v4l2_mbus_framefmt *format_mbus;
 	struct mux_control *mux;
@@ -354,8 +355,11 @@ static int video_mux_async_register(struct video_mux *vmux,
 	for (i = 0; i < num_input_pads; i++)
 		ports[i] = i;
 
+	v4l2_async_notifier_init(&vmux->notifier);
+
 	ret = v4l2_async_register_fwnode_subdev(
-		&vmux->subdev, sizeof(struct v4l2_async_subdev),
+		&vmux->subdev, &vmux->notifier,
+		sizeof(struct v4l2_async_subdev),
 		ports, num_input_pads, video_mux_parse_endpoint);
 
 	kfree(ports);
@@ -442,6 +446,8 @@ static int video_mux_remove(struct platform_device *pdev)
 	struct video_mux *vmux = platform_get_drvdata(pdev);
 	struct v4l2_subdev *sd = &vmux->subdev;
 
+	v4l2_async_notifier_unregister(&vmux->notifier);
+	v4l2_async_notifier_cleanup(&vmux->notifier);
 	v4l2_async_unregister_subdev(sd);
 	media_entity_cleanup(&sd->entity);
 
diff --git a/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-fwnode.c b/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-fwnode.c
index 6ece4320e1d2..ae2cc4d6faf6 100644
--- a/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-fwnode.c
+++ b/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-fwnode.c
@@ -1164,12 +1164,12 @@ int v4l2_async_register_subdev_sensor_common(struct v4l2_subdev *sd)
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(v4l2_async_register_subdev_sensor_common);
 
 int v4l2_async_register_fwnode_subdev(struct v4l2_subdev *sd,
+				      struct v4l2_async_notifier *notifier,
 				      size_t asd_struct_size,
 				      unsigned int *ports,
 				      unsigned int num_ports,
 				      parse_endpoint_func parse_endpoint)
 {
-	struct v4l2_async_notifier *notifier;
 	struct device *dev = sd->dev;
 	struct fwnode_handle *fwnode;
 	int ret;
@@ -1181,12 +1181,6 @@ int v4l2_async_register_fwnode_subdev(struct v4l2_subdev *sd,
 	if (!fwnode_device_is_available(fwnode))
 		return -ENODEV;
 
-	notifier = kzalloc(sizeof(*notifier), GFP_KERNEL);
-	if (!notifier)
-		return -ENOMEM;
-
-	v4l2_async_notifier_init(notifier);
-
 	if (!ports) {
 		ret = v4l2_async_notifier_parse_fwnode_endpoints(dev, notifier,
 								 asd_struct_size,
@@ -1211,15 +1205,12 @@ int v4l2_async_register_fwnode_subdev(struct v4l2_subdev *sd,
 	if (ret < 0)
 		goto out_unregister;
 
-	sd->subdev_notifier = notifier;
-
 	return 0;
 
 out_unregister:
 	v4l2_async_notifier_unregister(notifier);
 out_cleanup:
 	v4l2_async_notifier_cleanup(notifier);
-	kfree(notifier);
 
 	return ret;
 }
diff --git a/drivers/staging/media/imx/imx6-mipi-csi2.c b/drivers/staging/media/imx/imx6-mipi-csi2.c
index cd3dd6e33ef0..c1d1afeea53a 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/media/imx/imx6-mipi-csi2.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/media/imx/imx6-mipi-csi2.c
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 struct csi2_dev {
 	struct device          *dev;
 	struct v4l2_subdev      sd;
+	struct v4l2_async_notifier notifier;
 	struct media_pad       pad[CSI2_NUM_PADS];
 	struct clk             *dphy_clk;
 	struct clk             *pllref_clk;
@@ -636,8 +637,10 @@ static int csi2_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 
 	platform_set_drvdata(pdev, &csi2->sd);
 
+	v4l2_async_notifier_init(&csi2->notifier);
+
 	ret = v4l2_async_register_fwnode_subdev(
-		&csi2->sd, sizeof(struct v4l2_async_subdev),
+		&csi2->sd, &csi2->notifier, sizeof(struct v4l2_async_subdev),
 		&sink_port, 1, csi2_parse_endpoint);
 	if (ret)
 		goto dphy_off;
@@ -658,6 +661,8 @@ static int csi2_remove(struct platform_device *pdev)
 	struct v4l2_subdev *sd = platform_get_drvdata(pdev);
 	struct csi2_dev *csi2 = sd_to_dev(sd);
 
+	v4l2_async_notifier_unregister(&csi2->notifier);
+	v4l2_async_notifier_cleanup(&csi2->notifier);
 	v4l2_async_unregister_subdev(sd);
 	clk_disable_unprepare(csi2->dphy_clk);
 	clk_disable_unprepare(csi2->pllref_clk);
diff --git a/drivers/staging/media/imx/imx7-media-csi.c b/drivers/staging/media/imx/imx7-media-csi.c
index db30e2c70f2f..dc6d1a28fde7 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/media/imx/imx7-media-csi.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/media/imx/imx7-media-csi.c
@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@
 struct imx7_csi {
 	struct device *dev;
 	struct v4l2_subdev sd;
+	struct v4l2_async_notifier notifier;
 	struct imx_media_video_dev *vdev;
 	struct imx_media_dev *imxmd;
 	struct media_pad pad[IMX7_CSI_PADS_NUM];
@@ -1266,7 +1267,9 @@ static int imx7_csi_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 	if (ret < 0)
 		goto free;
 
-	ret = v4l2_async_register_fwnode_subdev(&csi->sd,
+	v4l2_async_notifier_init(&csi->notifier);
+
+	ret = v4l2_async_register_fwnode_subdev(&csi->sd, &csi->notifier,
 						sizeof(struct v4l2_async_subdev),
 						NULL, 0,
 						imx7_csi_parse_endpoint);
@@ -1303,6 +1306,8 @@ static int imx7_csi_remove(struct platform_device *pdev)
 	v4l2_device_unregister(&imxmd->v4l2_dev);
 	media_device_cleanup(&imxmd->md);
 
+	v4l2_async_notifier_unregister(&csi->notifier);
+	v4l2_async_notifier_cleanup(&csi->notifier);
 	v4l2_async_unregister_subdev(sd);
 	v4l2_ctrl_handler_free(&csi->ctrl_hdlr);
 
diff --git a/drivers/staging/media/imx/imx7-mipi-csis.c b/drivers/staging/media/imx/imx7-mipi-csis.c
index 383abecb3bec..4c54456318ea 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/media/imx/imx7-mipi-csis.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/media/imx/imx7-mipi-csis.c
@@ -223,6 +223,7 @@ struct csi_state {
 	struct device *dev;
 	struct media_pad pads[CSIS_PADS_NUM];
 	struct v4l2_subdev mipi_sd;
+	struct v4l2_async_notifier notifier;
 	struct v4l2_subdev *src_sd;
 
 	u8 index;
@@ -883,7 +884,9 @@ static int mipi_csis_subdev_init(struct v4l2_subdev *mipi_sd,
 	if (ret)
 		return ret;
 
-	ret = v4l2_async_register_fwnode_subdev(mipi_sd,
+	v4l2_async_notifier_init(&state->notifier);
+
+	ret = v4l2_async_register_fwnode_subdev(mipi_sd, &state->notifier,
 						sizeof(struct v4l2_async_subdev),
 						&sink_port, 1,
 						mipi_csis_parse_endpoint);
@@ -1014,6 +1017,8 @@ static int mipi_csis_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 unregister_all:
 	mipi_csis_debugfs_exit(state);
 	media_entity_cleanup(&state->mipi_sd.entity);
+	v4l2_async_notifier_unregister(&state->notifier);
+	v4l2_async_notifier_cleanup(&state->notifier);
 	v4l2_async_unregister_subdev(&state->mipi_sd);
 disable_clock:
 	mipi_csis_clk_disable(state);
@@ -1101,6 +1106,8 @@ static int mipi_csis_remove(struct platform_device *pdev)
 	struct csi_state *state = mipi_sd_to_csis_state(mipi_sd);
 
 	mipi_csis_debugfs_exit(state);
+	v4l2_async_notifier_unregister(&state->notifier);
+	v4l2_async_notifier_cleanup(&state->notifier);
 	v4l2_async_unregister_subdev(&state->mipi_sd);
 
 	pm_runtime_disable(&pdev->dev);
diff --git a/include/media/v4l2-fwnode.h b/include/media/v4l2-fwnode.h
index f6a7bcd13197..b2b61e6c3769 100644
--- a/include/media/v4l2-fwnode.h
+++ b/include/media/v4l2-fwnode.h
@@ -375,6 +375,7 @@ int v4l2_async_notifier_parse_fwnode_sensor_common(struct device *dev,
  *					and parses fwnode endpoints
  *
  * @sd: pointer to struct &v4l2_subdev
+ * @notifier: the sub-device's notifier.
  * @asd_struct_size: size of the driver's async sub-device struct, including
  *		     sizeof(struct v4l2_async_subdev). The &struct
  *		     v4l2_async_subdev shall be the first member of
@@ -387,13 +388,15 @@ int v4l2_async_notifier_parse_fwnode_sensor_common(struct device *dev,
  *		    endpoint. Optional.
  *
  * This function is just like v4l2_async_register_subdev() with the
- * exception that calling it will also allocate a notifier for the
- * sub-device, parse the sub-device's firmware node endpoints using
- * v4l2_async_notifier_parse_fwnode_endpoints() or
+ * exception that calling it will also parse the sub-device's firmware
+ * node endpoints using v4l2_async_notifier_parse_fwnode_endpoints() or
  * v4l2_async_notifier_parse_fwnode_endpoints_by_port(), and
- * registers the sub-device notifier. The sub-device is similarly
+ * registers the sub-device's notifier. The sub-device is similarly
  * unregistered by calling v4l2_async_unregister_subdev().
  *
+ * The caller must first initialize the notifier with a call to
+ * v4l2_async_notifier_init().
+ *
  * While registered, the subdev module is marked as in-use.
  *
  * An error is returned if the module is no longer loaded on any attempts
@@ -401,6 +404,7 @@ int v4l2_async_notifier_parse_fwnode_sensor_common(struct device *dev,
  */
 int
 v4l2_async_register_fwnode_subdev(struct v4l2_subdev *sd,
+				  struct v4l2_async_notifier *notifier,
 				  size_t asd_struct_size,
 				  unsigned int *ports,
 				  unsigned int num_ports,
