diff --git a/drivers/of/base.c b/drivers/of/base.c
index e87e21df19d8..116666b088cc 100644
--- a/drivers/of/base.c
+++ b/drivers/of/base.c
@@ -394,7 +394,8 @@ bool __weak arch_find_n_match_cpu_physical_id(struct device_node *cpun,
  * before booting secondary cores. This function uses arch_match_cpu_phys_id
  * which can be overridden by architecture specific implementation.
  *
- * Returns a node pointer for the logical cpu if found, else NULL.
+ * Returns a node pointer for the logical cpu with refcount incremented, use
+ * of_node_put() on it when done. Returns NULL if not found.
  */
 struct device_node *of_get_cpu_node(int cpu, unsigned int *thread)
 {