[PATCH] checkpatch: Fix false positive check for dt-binding docs and include

From: Alex Tran
Date: Wed Dec 24 2025 - 20:41:30 EST


The check for when to display a DT_SPLIT_BINDING_PATCH warning
is performed on all files that are not MAINTAINERS files.
This causes issues, specifically when checking against a
patch that only touches docs/dt-bindings or a patch that
only touches include/dt-bindings. The warning is still
displayed when it should not be, giving false positives.

The check for when to issue a DT_SPLIT_BINDING_PATCH warning
is currently too pervasive and should only be performed when
a change under docs/dt-bindings is detected or include/dt-bindings.
If the current changed file is under include/dt-bindings or
docs/dt-bindings then it is compared to the last file detected
under include/dt-bindings or docs/dt-bindings. If there is a
difference then a warning is issued.

Signed-off-by: Alex Tran <alex.t.tran@xxxxxxxxx>
---
scripts/checkpatch.pl | 12 ++++++------
1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
index c0250244cf7a3cb5e289b04fa4a9f644692dc278..fe3499bc9adda158c88231b48b3b0100f3af0ee1 100755
--- a/scripts/checkpatch.pl
+++ b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
@@ -2668,7 +2668,7 @@ sub process {
my $authorsignoff = 0;
my $author_sob = '';
my $is_patch = 0;
- my $is_binding_patch = -1;
+ my $is_doc_binding_patch = -1;
my $in_header_lines = $file ? 0 : 1;
my $in_commit_log = 0; #Scanning lines before patch
my $has_patch_separator = 0; #Found a --- line
@@ -2924,13 +2924,13 @@ sub process {
}
$checklicenseline = 1;

- if ($realfile !~ /^MAINTAINERS/) {
- my $last_binding_patch = $is_binding_patch;
+ if ($realfile =~ m@^(?:Documentation/devicetree/|include/dt-bindings/)@) {
+ my $last_binding_patch_is_doc = $is_doc_binding_patch;

- $is_binding_patch = () = $realfile =~ m@^(?:Documentation/devicetree/|include/dt-bindings/)@;
+ $is_doc_binding_patch = () = $realfile =~ m@^(?:Documentation/devicetree/)@;

- if (($last_binding_patch != -1) &&
- ($last_binding_patch ^ $is_binding_patch)) {
+ if (($last_binding_patch_is_doc != -1) &&
+ ($last_binding_patch_is_doc ^ $is_doc_binding_patch)) {
WARN("DT_SPLIT_BINDING_PATCH",
"DT binding docs and includes should be a separate patch. See: Documentation/devicetree/bindings/submitting-patches.rst\n");
}

---
base-commit: fa084c35afa13ab07a860ef0936cd987f9aa0460
change-id: 20251224-checkscript_dt_bindings_fp-0e5938f6d274

Best regards,
--
Alex Tran <alex.t.tran@xxxxxxxxx>