diff --git a/include/linux/netfilter_ipv4/ip_conntrack_core.h b/include/linux/netfilter_ipv4/ip_conntrack_core.h
index dc4d2a0575de..907d4f5ca5dc 100644
--- a/include/linux/netfilter_ipv4/ip_conntrack_core.h
+++ b/include/linux/netfilter_ipv4/ip_conntrack_core.h
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ static inline int ip_conntrack_confirm(struct sk_buff **pskb)
 	return ret;
 }
 
-extern void __ip_ct_expect_unlink_destroy(struct ip_conntrack_expect *exp);
+extern void ip_ct_unlink_expect(struct ip_conntrack_expect *exp);
 
 extern struct list_head *ip_conntrack_hash;
 extern struct list_head ip_conntrack_expect_list;
diff --git a/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_core.c b/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_core.c
index babce304c619..19cba16e6e1e 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_core.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_core.c
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ ip_ct_invert_tuple(struct ip_conntrack_tuple *inverse,
 
 
 /* ip_conntrack_expect helper functions */
-static void unlink_expect(struct ip_conntrack_expect *exp)
+void ip_ct_unlink_expect(struct ip_conntrack_expect *exp)
 {
 	ASSERT_WRITE_LOCK(&ip_conntrack_lock);
 	IP_NF_ASSERT(!timer_pending(&exp->timeout));
@@ -207,18 +207,12 @@ static void unlink_expect(struct ip_conntrack_expect *exp)
 	ip_conntrack_expect_put(exp);
 }
 
-void __ip_ct_expect_unlink_destroy(struct ip_conntrack_expect *exp)
-{
-	unlink_expect(exp);
-	ip_conntrack_expect_put(exp);
-}
-
 static void expectation_timed_out(unsigned long ul_expect)
 {
 	struct ip_conntrack_expect *exp = (void *)ul_expect;
 
 	write_lock_bh(&ip_conntrack_lock);
-	unlink_expect(exp);
+	ip_ct_unlink_expect(exp);
 	write_unlock_bh(&ip_conntrack_lock);
 	ip_conntrack_expect_put(exp);
 }
@@ -269,7 +263,7 @@ find_expectation(const struct ip_conntrack_tuple *tuple)
 				atomic_inc(&i->use);
 				return i;
 			} else if (del_timer(&i->timeout)) {
-				unlink_expect(i);
+				ip_ct_unlink_expect(i);
 				return i;
 			}
 		}
@@ -288,7 +282,7 @@ void ip_ct_remove_expectations(struct ip_conntrack *ct)
 
 	list_for_each_entry_safe(i, tmp, &ip_conntrack_expect_list, list) {
 		if (i->master == ct && del_timer(&i->timeout)) {
-			unlink_expect(i);
+			ip_ct_unlink_expect(i);
 			ip_conntrack_expect_put(i);
 		}
 	}
@@ -929,7 +923,7 @@ void ip_conntrack_unexpect_related(struct ip_conntrack_expect *exp)
 	/* choose the the oldest expectation to evict */
 	list_for_each_entry_reverse(i, &ip_conntrack_expect_list, list) {
 		if (expect_matches(i, exp) && del_timer(&i->timeout)) {
-			unlink_expect(i);
+			ip_ct_unlink_expect(i);
 			write_unlock_bh(&ip_conntrack_lock);
 			ip_conntrack_expect_put(i);
 			return;
@@ -986,7 +980,7 @@ static void evict_oldest_expect(struct ip_conntrack *master)
 	list_for_each_entry_reverse(i, &ip_conntrack_expect_list, list) {
 		if (i->master == master) {
 			if (del_timer(&i->timeout)) {
-				unlink_expect(i);
+				ip_ct_unlink_expect(i);
 				ip_conntrack_expect_put(i);
 			}
 			break;
@@ -1103,7 +1097,7 @@ void ip_conntrack_helper_unregister(struct ip_conntrack_helper *me)
 	/* Get rid of expectations */
 	list_for_each_entry_safe(exp, tmp, &ip_conntrack_expect_list, list) {
 		if (exp->master->helper == me && del_timer(&exp->timeout)) {
-			unlink_expect(exp);
+			ip_ct_unlink_expect(exp);
 			ip_conntrack_expect_put(exp);
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_netlink.c b/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_netlink.c
index 3dc3a7bab3b4..15aef3564742 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_netlink.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_netlink.c
@@ -1349,8 +1349,10 @@ ctnetlink_del_expect(struct sock *ctnl, struct sk_buff *skb,
 		list_for_each_entry_safe(exp, tmp, &ip_conntrack_expect_list,
 					 list) {
 			if (exp->master->helper == h 
-			    && del_timer(&exp->timeout))
-				__ip_ct_expect_unlink_destroy(exp);
+			    && del_timer(&exp->timeout)) {
+				ip_ct_unlink_expect(exp);
+				ip_conntrack_expect_put(exp);
+			}
 		}
 		write_unlock(&ip_conntrack_lock);
 	} else {
@@ -1358,8 +1360,10 @@ ctnetlink_del_expect(struct sock *ctnl, struct sk_buff *skb,
 		write_lock_bh(&ip_conntrack_lock);
 		list_for_each_entry_safe(exp, tmp, &ip_conntrack_expect_list,
 					 list) {
-			if (del_timer(&exp->timeout))
-				__ip_ct_expect_unlink_destroy(exp);
+			if (del_timer(&exp->timeout)) {
+				ip_ct_unlink_expect(exp);
+				ip_conntrack_expect_put(exp);
+			}
 		}
 		write_unlock_bh(&ip_conntrack_lock);
 	}
diff --git a/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_standalone.c b/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_standalone.c
index ee5895afd0c3..ae3e3e655db5 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_standalone.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/netfilter/ip_conntrack_standalone.c
@@ -998,7 +998,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(ip_conntrack_expect_related);
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(ip_conntrack_unexpect_related);
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(ip_conntrack_expect_list);
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(__ip_conntrack_expect_find);
-EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(__ip_ct_expect_unlink_destroy);
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(ip_ct_unlink_expect);
 
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(ip_conntrack_tuple_taken);
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(ip_ct_gather_frags);