diff --git a/drivers/media/i2c/imx290.c b/drivers/media/i2c/imx290.c
index bf7a6c37ca5d..99f2a50d39a4 100644
--- a/drivers/media/i2c/imx290.c
+++ b/drivers/media/i2c/imx290.c
@@ -363,7 +363,7 @@ static inline struct imx290 *to_imx290(struct v4l2_subdev *_sd)
 	return container_of(_sd, struct imx290, sd);
 }
 
-static inline int imx290_read_reg(struct imx290 *imx290, u16 addr, u8 *value)
+static inline int __always_unused imx290_read_reg(struct imx290 *imx290, u16 addr, u8 *value)
 {
 	unsigned int regval;
 	int ret;