diff --git a/drivers/staging/greybus/gpio-gb.c b/drivers/staging/greybus/gpio-gb.c
index 7f03676ef46f..53464e39ba6d 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/greybus/gpio-gb.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/greybus/gpio-gb.c
@@ -799,12 +799,11 @@ out_err:
 void gb_gpio_controller_exit(struct gb_connection *connection)
 {
 	struct gb_gpio_controller *gb_gpio_controller = connection->private;
-	int ret;
 
 	if (!gb_gpio_controller)
 		return;
 
-	ret = gpiochip_remove(&gb_gpio_controller->chip);
+	gb_gpiochip_remove(&gb_gpio_controller->chip);
 	/* kref_put(gb_gpio_controller->connection) */
 	kfree(gb_gpio_controller);
 }
diff --git a/drivers/staging/greybus/kernel_ver.h b/drivers/staging/greybus/kernel_ver.h
index c9ea7a94f4e6..e0fea182c3b5 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/greybus/kernel_ver.h
+++ b/drivers/staging/greybus/kernel_ver.h
@@ -26,4 +26,26 @@
 #define U16_MAX	((u16)(~0U))
 #endif /* !U16_MAX */
 
+/*
+ * The GPIO api sucks rocks in places, like removal, so work around their
+ * explicit requirements of catching the return value for kernels older than
+ * 3.17, which they explicitly changed in the 3.17 kernel.  Consistency is
+ * overrated.
+ */
+#include <linux/version.h>
+#include <linux/gpio.h>
+
+#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE >= KERNEL_VERSION(3,17,0)
+static inline void gb_gpiochip_remove(struct gpio_chip *chip)
+{
+	gpiochip_remove(chip);
+}
+#else
+static inline void gb_gpiochip_remove(struct gpio_chip *chip)
+{
+	int ret;
+	ret = gpiochip_remove(chip);
+}
+#endif
+
 #endif	/* __GREYBUS_KERNEL_VER_H */