diff --git a/drivers/staging/android/ion/ion.c b/drivers/staging/android/ion/ion.c
index 054e672f1794..ba65bef05b6c 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/android/ion/ion.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/android/ion/ion.c
@@ -949,19 +949,19 @@ struct dma_buf_ops dma_buf_ops = {
 	.kunmap = ion_dma_buf_kunmap,
 };
 
-int ion_share_dma_buf(struct ion_client *client, struct ion_handle *handle)
+struct dma_buf *ion_share_dma_buf(struct ion_client *client,
+						struct ion_handle *handle)
 {
 	struct ion_buffer *buffer;
 	struct dma_buf *dmabuf;
 	bool valid_handle;
-	int fd;
 
 	mutex_lock(&client->lock);
 	valid_handle = ion_handle_validate(client, handle);
 	mutex_unlock(&client->lock);
 	if (!valid_handle) {
 		WARN(1, "%s: invalid handle passed to share.\n", __func__);
-		return -EINVAL;
+		return ERR_PTR(-EINVAL);
 	}
 
 	buffer = handle->buffer;
@@ -969,15 +969,29 @@ int ion_share_dma_buf(struct ion_client *client, struct ion_handle *handle)
 	dmabuf = dma_buf_export(buffer, &dma_buf_ops, buffer->size, O_RDWR);
 	if (IS_ERR(dmabuf)) {
 		ion_buffer_put(buffer);
-		return PTR_ERR(dmabuf);
+		return dmabuf;
 	}
+
+	return dmabuf;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(ion_share_dma_buf);
+
+int ion_share_dma_buf_fd(struct ion_client *client, struct ion_handle *handle)
+{
+	struct dma_buf *dmabuf;
+	int fd;
+
+	dmabuf = ion_share_dma_buf(client, handle);
+	if (IS_ERR(dmabuf))
+		return PTR_ERR(dmabuf);
+
 	fd = dma_buf_fd(dmabuf, O_CLOEXEC);
 	if (fd < 0)
 		dma_buf_put(dmabuf);
 
 	return fd;
 }
-EXPORT_SYMBOL(ion_share_dma_buf);
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(ion_share_dma_buf_fd);
 
 struct ion_handle *ion_import_dma_buf(struct ion_client *client, int fd)
 {
@@ -1086,7 +1100,7 @@ static long ion_ioctl(struct file *filp, unsigned int cmd, unsigned long arg)
 
 		if (copy_from_user(&data, (void __user *)arg, sizeof(data)))
 			return -EFAULT;
-		data.fd = ion_share_dma_buf(client, data.handle);
+		data.fd = ion_share_dma_buf_fd(client, data.handle);
 		if (copy_to_user((void __user *)arg, &data, sizeof(data)))
 			return -EFAULT;
 		if (data.fd < 0)
diff --git a/drivers/staging/android/ion/ion.h b/drivers/staging/android/ion/ion.h
index 0f67014f2403..976123b189ae 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/android/ion/ion.h
+++ b/drivers/staging/android/ion/ion.h
@@ -212,11 +212,19 @@ void *ion_map_kernel(struct ion_client *client, struct ion_handle *handle);
 void ion_unmap_kernel(struct ion_client *client, struct ion_handle *handle);
 
 /**
- * ion_share_dma_buf() - given an ion client, create a dma-buf fd
+ * ion_share_dma_buf() - share buffer as dma-buf
  * @client:	the client
  * @handle:	the handle
  */
-int ion_share_dma_buf(struct ion_client *client, struct ion_handle *handle);
+struct dma_buf *ion_share_dma_buf(struct ion_client *client,
+						struct ion_handle *handle);
+
+/**
+ * ion_share_dma_buf_fd() - given an ion client, create a dma-buf fd
+ * @client:	the client
+ * @handle:	the handle
+ */
+int ion_share_dma_buf_fd(struct ion_client *client, struct ion_handle *handle);
 
 /**
  * ion_import_dma_buf() - given an dma-buf fd from the ion exporter get handle