diff --git a/drivers/misc/cxl/vphb.c b/drivers/misc/cxl/vphb.c
index 7ada5f1b7bb67b..3519acebfdab6b 100644
--- a/drivers/misc/cxl/vphb.c
+++ b/drivers/misc/cxl/vphb.c
@@ -230,6 +230,11 @@ int cxl_pci_vphb_add(struct cxl_afu *afu)
 	if (phb->bus == NULL)
 		return -ENXIO;
 
+	/* Set release hook on root bus */
+	pci_set_host_bridge_release(to_pci_host_bridge(phb->bus->bridge),
+				    pcibios_free_controller_deferred,
+				    (void *) phb);
+
 	/* Claim resources. This might need some rework as well depending
 	 * whether we are doing probe-only or not, like assigning unassigned
 	 * resources etc...
@@ -256,7 +261,10 @@ void cxl_pci_vphb_remove(struct cxl_afu *afu)
 	afu->phb = NULL;
 
 	pci_remove_root_bus(phb->bus);
-	pcibios_free_controller(phb);
+	/*
+	 * We don't free phb here - that's handled by
+	 * pcibios_free_controller_deferred()
+	 */
 }
 
 static bool _cxl_pci_is_vphb_device(struct pci_controller *phb)
diff --git a/drivers/pci/host-bridge.c b/drivers/pci/host-bridge.c
index 5f4a2e04c8d7cf..add66236215c66 100644
--- a/drivers/pci/host-bridge.c
+++ b/drivers/pci/host-bridge.c
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ void pci_set_host_bridge_release(struct pci_host_bridge *bridge,
 	bridge->release_fn = release_fn;
 	bridge->release_data = release_data;
 }
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(pci_set_host_bridge_release);
 
 void pcibios_resource_to_bus(struct pci_bus *bus, struct pci_bus_region *region,
 			     struct resource *res)