diff --git a/drivers/staging/comedi/comedidev.h b/drivers/staging/comedi/comedidev.h
index f82bd4256d51..f36bf3e02c41 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/comedi/comedidev.h
+++ b/drivers/staging/comedi/comedidev.h
@@ -353,6 +353,14 @@ void comedi_buf_memcpy_from(struct comedi_async *async, unsigned int offset,
 
 /* drivers.c - general comedi driver functions */
 
+#define COMEDI_TIMEOUT_MS	1000
+
+int comedi_timeout(struct comedi_device *, struct comedi_subdevice *,
+		   struct comedi_insn *,
+		   int (*cb)(struct comedi_device *, struct comedi_subdevice *,
+			     struct comedi_insn *, unsigned long context),
+		   unsigned long context);
+
 int comedi_dio_insn_config(struct comedi_device *, struct comedi_subdevice *,
 			   struct comedi_insn *, unsigned int *data,
 			   unsigned int mask);
diff --git a/drivers/staging/comedi/drivers.c b/drivers/staging/comedi/drivers.c
index 5b15033a94bf..ab0e8ed47291 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/comedi/drivers.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/comedi/drivers.c
@@ -154,6 +154,36 @@ int insn_inval(struct comedi_device *dev, struct comedi_subdevice *s,
 	return -EINVAL;
 }
 
+/**
+ * comedi_timeout() - busy-wait for a driver condition to occur.
+ * @dev: comedi_device struct
+ * @s: comedi_subdevice struct
+ * @insn: comedi_insn struct
+ * @cb: callback to check for the condition
+ * @context: private context from the driver
+ */
+int comedi_timeout(struct comedi_device *dev,
+		   struct comedi_subdevice *s,
+		   struct comedi_insn *insn,
+		   int (*cb)(struct comedi_device *dev,
+			     struct comedi_subdevice *s,
+			     struct comedi_insn *insn,
+			     unsigned long context),
+		   unsigned long context)
+{
+	unsigned long timeout = jiffies + msecs_to_jiffies(COMEDI_TIMEOUT_MS);
+	int ret;
+
+	while (time_before(jiffies, timeout)) {
+		ret = cb(dev, s, insn, context);
+		if (ret != -EBUSY)
+			return ret;	/* success (0) or non EBUSY errno */
+		cpu_relax();
+	}
+	return -ETIMEDOUT;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(comedi_timeout);
+
 /**
  * comedi_dio_insn_config() - boilerplate (*insn_config) for DIO subdevices.
  * @dev: comedi_device struct