[PATCH v2 1/3] err.h: add INIT_ERR_PTR macro

From: Christian Marangi

Date: Fri Oct 31 2025 - 09:08:46 EST


Add INIT_ERR_PTR macro to initialize static variables with error
pointers. This might be useful for specific case where there is a static
variable initialized to an error condition and then later set to the
real handle once probe finish/completes.

This is to handle compilation problems like:

error: initializer element is not constant

where ERR_PTR can't be used.

Signed-off-by: Christian Marangi <ansuelsmth@xxxxxxxxx>
---
include/linux/err.h | 8 ++++++++
1 file changed, 8 insertions(+)

diff --git a/include/linux/err.h b/include/linux/err.h
index 1d60aa86db53..8c37be0620ab 100644
--- a/include/linux/err.h
+++ b/include/linux/err.h
@@ -41,6 +41,14 @@ static inline void * __must_check ERR_PTR(long error)
return (void *) error;
}

+/**
+ * INIT_ERR_PTR - Init a const error pointer.
+ * @error: A negative error code.
+ *
+ * Like ERR_PTR(), but usable to initialize static variables.
+ */
+#define INIT_ERR_PTR(error) ((void *)(error))
+
/* Return the pointer in the percpu address space. */
#define ERR_PTR_PCPU(error) ((void __percpu *)(unsigned long)ERR_PTR(error))

--
2.51.0