diff --git a/include/linux/ceph/libceph.h b/include/linux/ceph/libceph.h
index 084d3c622b12..c44275ab375c 100644
--- a/include/linux/ceph/libceph.h
+++ b/include/linux/ceph/libceph.h
@@ -193,6 +193,8 @@ static inline int calc_pages_for(u64 off, u64 len)
 }
 
 /* ceph_common.c */
+extern bool libceph_compatible(void *data);
+
 extern const char *ceph_msg_type_name(int type);
 extern int ceph_check_fsid(struct ceph_client *client, struct ceph_fsid *fsid);
 extern struct kmem_cache *ceph_inode_cachep;
diff --git a/net/ceph/ceph_common.c b/net/ceph/ceph_common.c
index ee71ea26777a..a98c03ff853f 100644
--- a/net/ceph/ceph_common.c
+++ b/net/ceph/ceph_common.c
@@ -26,6 +26,22 @@
 #include "crypto.h"
 
 
+/*
+ * Module compatibility interface.  For now it doesn't do anything,
+ * but its existence signals a certain level of functionality.
+ *
+ * The data buffer is used to pass information both to and from
+ * libceph.  The return value indicates whether libceph determines
+ * it is compatible with the caller (from another kernel module),
+ * given the provided data.
+ *
+ * The data pointer can be null.
+ */
+bool libceph_compatible(void *data)
+{
+	return false;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(libceph_compatible);
 
 /*
  * find filename portion of a path (/foo/bar/baz -> baz)