diff --git a/drivers/iio/industrialio-core.c b/drivers/iio/industrialio-core.c
index 462d3e810013..a1b29e0f8fd6 100644
--- a/drivers/iio/industrialio-core.c
+++ b/drivers/iio/industrialio-core.c
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 #include <linux/debugfs.h>
 #include <linux/mutex.h>
 #include <linux/iio/iio.h>
+#include <linux/iio/iio-opaque.h>
 #include "iio_core.h"
 #include "iio_core_trigger.h"
 #include <linux/iio/sysfs.h>
@@ -164,6 +165,15 @@ static const char * const iio_chan_info_postfix[] = {
 	[IIO_CHAN_INFO_THERMOCOUPLE_TYPE] = "thermocouple_type",
 };
 
+struct iio_dev *iio_priv_to_dev(void *priv)
+{
+	struct iio_dev_opaque *iio_dev_opaque =
+		(struct iio_dev_opaque *)((char *)priv -
+				  ALIGN(sizeof(struct iio_dev_opaque), IIO_ALIGN));
+	return &iio_dev_opaque->indio_dev;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(iio_priv_to_dev);
+
 /**
  * iio_find_channel_from_si() - get channel from its scan index
  * @indio_dev:		device
@@ -1476,6 +1486,8 @@ static void iio_device_unregister_sysfs(struct iio_dev *indio_dev)
 static void iio_dev_release(struct device *device)
 {
 	struct iio_dev *indio_dev = dev_to_iio_dev(device);
+	struct iio_dev_opaque *iio_dev_opaque = to_iio_dev_opaque(indio_dev);
+
 	if (indio_dev->modes & INDIO_ALL_TRIGGERED_MODES)
 		iio_device_unregister_trigger_consumer(indio_dev);
 	iio_device_unregister_eventset(indio_dev);
@@ -1484,7 +1496,7 @@ static void iio_dev_release(struct device *device)
 	iio_buffer_put(indio_dev->buffer);
 
 	ida_simple_remove(&iio_ida, indio_dev->id);
-	kfree(indio_dev);
+	kfree(iio_dev_opaque);
 }
 
 struct device_type iio_device_type = {
@@ -1498,10 +1510,11 @@ struct device_type iio_device_type = {
  **/
 struct iio_dev *iio_device_alloc(int sizeof_priv)
 {
+	struct iio_dev_opaque *iio_dev_opaque;
 	struct iio_dev *dev;
 	size_t alloc_size;
 
-	alloc_size = sizeof(struct iio_dev);
+	alloc_size = sizeof(struct iio_dev_opaque);
 	if (sizeof_priv) {
 		alloc_size = ALIGN(alloc_size, IIO_ALIGN);
 		alloc_size += sizeof_priv;
@@ -1509,10 +1522,14 @@ struct iio_dev *iio_device_alloc(int sizeof_priv)
 	/* ensure 32-byte alignment of whole construct ? */
 	alloc_size += IIO_ALIGN - 1;
 
-	dev = kzalloc(alloc_size, GFP_KERNEL);
-	if (!dev)
+	iio_dev_opaque = kzalloc(alloc_size, GFP_KERNEL);
+	if (!iio_dev_opaque)
 		return NULL;
 
+	dev = &iio_dev_opaque->indio_dev;
+	dev->priv = (char *)iio_dev_opaque +
+		ALIGN(sizeof(struct iio_dev_opaque), IIO_ALIGN);
+
 	dev->dev.groups = dev->groups;
 	dev->dev.type = &iio_device_type;
 	dev->dev.bus = &iio_bus_type;
@@ -1526,7 +1543,7 @@ struct iio_dev *iio_device_alloc(int sizeof_priv)
 	if (dev->id < 0) {
 		/* cannot use a dev_err as the name isn't available */
 		pr_err("failed to get device id\n");
-		kfree(dev);
+		kfree(iio_dev_opaque);
 		return NULL;
 	}
 	dev_set_name(&dev->dev, "iio:device%d", dev->id);
diff --git a/include/linux/iio/iio-opaque.h b/include/linux/iio/iio-opaque.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..1375674f14cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/linux/iio/iio-opaque.h
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 */
+
+#ifndef _INDUSTRIAL_IO_OPAQUE_H_
+#define _INDUSTRIAL_IO_OPAQUE_H_
+
+/**
+ * struct iio_dev_opaque - industrial I/O device opaque information
+ * @indio_dev:			public industrial I/O device information
+ */
+struct iio_dev_opaque {
+	struct iio_dev			indio_dev;
+};
+
+#define to_iio_dev_opaque(indio_dev)		\
+	container_of(indio_dev, struct iio_dev_opaque, indio_dev)
+
+#endif
diff --git a/include/linux/iio/iio.h b/include/linux/iio/iio.h
index 5f9f439a4f01..e82693db6578 100644
--- a/include/linux/iio/iio.h
+++ b/include/linux/iio/iio.h
@@ -522,6 +522,7 @@ struct iio_buffer_setup_ops {
  * @flags:		[INTERN] file ops related flags including busy flag.
  * @debugfs_dentry:	[INTERN] device specific debugfs dentry.
  * @cached_reg_addr:	[INTERN] cached register address for debugfs reads.
+ * @priv:		[DRIVER] reference to driver's private information
  */
 struct iio_dev {
 	int				id;
@@ -571,6 +572,7 @@ struct iio_dev {
 	char				read_buf[20];
 	unsigned int			read_buf_len;
 #endif
+	void				*priv;
 };
 
 const struct iio_chan_spec
@@ -678,16 +680,13 @@ static inline void *iio_device_get_drvdata(struct iio_dev *indio_dev)
 #define IIO_ALIGN L1_CACHE_BYTES
 struct iio_dev *iio_device_alloc(int sizeof_priv);
 
+/* The information at this reference is guaranteed to be cacheline aligned */
 static inline void *iio_priv(const struct iio_dev *indio_dev)
 {
-	return (char *)indio_dev + ALIGN(sizeof(struct iio_dev), IIO_ALIGN);
+	return indio_dev->priv;
 }
 
-static inline struct iio_dev *iio_priv_to_dev(void *priv)
-{
-	return (struct iio_dev *)((char *)priv -
-				  ALIGN(sizeof(struct iio_dev), IIO_ALIGN));
-}
+struct iio_dev *iio_priv_to_dev(void *priv);
 
 void iio_device_free(struct iio_dev *indio_dev);
 struct iio_dev *devm_iio_device_alloc(struct device *dev, int sizeof_priv);
