diff --git a/drivers/dahdi/dahdi-base.c b/drivers/dahdi/dahdi-base.c
index 6994f29..c8e58cf 100644
--- a/drivers/dahdi/dahdi-base.c
+++ b/drivers/dahdi/dahdi-base.c
@@ -7374,10 +7374,18 @@ int dahdi_assign_device_spans(struct dahdi_device *ddev)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-int auto_assign_spans = 1;
-EXPORT_SYMBOL(auto_assign_spans);
+static int auto_assign_spans = 1;
 static const char *UNKNOWN = "";
 
+/**
+ * dahdi_auto_assign_spans - is the parameter auto_assign_spans set?
+ */
+int dahdi_get_auto_assign_spans(void)
+{
+	return auto_assign_spans;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(dahdi_get_auto_assign_spans);
+
 /**
  * _dahdi_register_device - Registers a DAHDI device and assign its spans.
  * @ddev:	the DAHDI device
diff --git a/drivers/dahdi/xpp/xbus-core.c b/drivers/dahdi/xpp/xbus-core.c
index 316d2be..8887c1e 100644
--- a/drivers/dahdi/xpp/xbus-core.c
+++ b/drivers/dahdi/xpp/xbus-core.c
@@ -1118,7 +1118,7 @@ void xbus_populate(void *data)
 	 */
 	xbus_request_sync(xbus, SYNC_MODE_PLL);
 	elect_syncer("xbus_populate(end)");	/* FIXME: try to do it later */
-	if (!auto_assign_spans)
+	if (!dahdi_get_auto_assign_spans())
 		xbus_register_dahdi_device(xbus);
 out:
 	XBUS_DBG(DEVICES, xbus, "Leaving\n");
diff --git a/include/dahdi/kernel.h b/include/dahdi/kernel.h
index dabd123..f2f9ec5 100644
--- a/include/dahdi/kernel.h
+++ b/include/dahdi/kernel.h
@@ -1280,7 +1280,8 @@ static inline void dahdi_ec_span(struct dahdi_span *span)
 }
 
 extern struct file_operations *dahdi_transcode_fops;
-extern int auto_assign_spans;
+
+int dahdi_get_auto_assign_spans(void);
 
 /* Don't use these directly -- they're not guaranteed to
    be there. */