diff --git a/drivers/base/class.c b/drivers/base/class.c
index ae22fa992c04..cb5359235c70 100644
--- a/drivers/base/class.c
+++ b/drivers/base/class.c
@@ -183,6 +183,17 @@ int class_register(const struct class *cls)
 
 	pr_debug("device class '%s': registering\n", cls->name);
 
+	if (cls->ns_type && !cls->namespace) {
+		pr_err("%s: class '%s' does not have namespace\n",
+		       __func__, cls->name);
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+	if (!cls->ns_type && cls->namespace) {
+		pr_err("%s: class '%s' does not have ns_type\n",
+		       __func__, cls->name);
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
 	cp = kzalloc(sizeof(*cp), GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!cp)
 		return -ENOMEM;
diff --git a/drivers/base/core.c b/drivers/base/core.c
index ec2197aec0b7..30408a4a4927 100644
--- a/drivers/base/core.c
+++ b/drivers/base/core.c
@@ -2584,7 +2584,7 @@ static const void *device_namespace(const struct kobject *kobj)
 	const struct device *dev = kobj_to_dev(kobj);
 	const void *ns = NULL;
 
-	if (dev->class && dev->class->ns_type)
+	if (dev->class && dev->class->namespace)
 		ns = dev->class->namespace(dev);
 
 	return ns;