diff --git a/drivers/thermal/Kconfig b/drivers/thermal/Kconfig
index f7a5dba3ca23a9f155a33edfd04ad62063aaa456..bf7c687519ef4026ea2a4a7b6506287a47843d6e 100644
--- a/drivers/thermal/Kconfig
+++ b/drivers/thermal/Kconfig
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 
 menuconfig THERMAL
 	tristate "Generic Thermal sysfs driver"
-	depends on NET
 	help
 	  Generic Thermal Sysfs driver offers a generic mechanism for
 	  thermal management. Usually it's made up of one or more thermal
diff --git a/drivers/thermal/thermal_sys.c b/drivers/thermal/thermal_sys.c
index 7d0e63c79280c37c6a88e9be1e8834eea11eba31..713b7ea4a60709e89e164fd4765e75e5397ed57f 100644
--- a/drivers/thermal/thermal_sys.c
+++ b/drivers/thermal/thermal_sys.c
@@ -62,20 +62,6 @@ static DEFINE_MUTEX(thermal_list_lock);
 
 static unsigned int thermal_event_seqnum;
 
-static struct genl_family thermal_event_genl_family = {
-	.id = GENL_ID_GENERATE,
-	.name = THERMAL_GENL_FAMILY_NAME,
-	.version = THERMAL_GENL_VERSION,
-	.maxattr = THERMAL_GENL_ATTR_MAX,
-};
-
-static struct genl_multicast_group thermal_event_mcgrp = {
-	.name = THERMAL_GENL_MCAST_GROUP_NAME,
-};
-
-static int genetlink_init(void);
-static void genetlink_exit(void);
-
 static int get_idr(struct idr *idr, struct mutex *lock, int *id)
 {
 	int err;
@@ -1225,6 +1211,18 @@ void thermal_zone_device_unregister(struct thermal_zone_device *tz)
 
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(thermal_zone_device_unregister);
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_NET
+static struct genl_family thermal_event_genl_family = {
+	.id = GENL_ID_GENERATE,
+	.name = THERMAL_GENL_FAMILY_NAME,
+	.version = THERMAL_GENL_VERSION,
+	.maxattr = THERMAL_GENL_ATTR_MAX,
+};
+
+static struct genl_multicast_group thermal_event_mcgrp = {
+	.name = THERMAL_GENL_MCAST_GROUP_NAME,
+};
+
 int generate_netlink_event(u32 orig, enum events event)
 {
 	struct sk_buff *skb;
@@ -1301,6 +1299,15 @@ static int genetlink_init(void)
 	return result;
 }
 
+static void genetlink_exit(void)
+{
+	genl_unregister_family(&thermal_event_genl_family);
+}
+#else /* !CONFIG_NET */
+static inline int genetlink_init(void) { return 0; }
+static inline void genetlink_exit(void) {}
+#endif /* !CONFIG_NET */
+
 static int __init thermal_init(void)
 {
 	int result = 0;
@@ -1316,11 +1323,6 @@ static int __init thermal_init(void)
 	return result;
 }
 
-static void genetlink_exit(void)
-{
-	genl_unregister_family(&thermal_event_genl_family);
-}
-
 static void __exit thermal_exit(void)
 {
 	class_unregister(&thermal_class);
diff --git a/include/linux/thermal.h b/include/linux/thermal.h
index 8651556dbd52aa7fe12d7d7b57b861b270544cfa..d3ec89fb4122610c26dfe0d86f499d50539280ff 100644
--- a/include/linux/thermal.h
+++ b/include/linux/thermal.h
@@ -172,6 +172,14 @@ void thermal_zone_device_update(struct thermal_zone_device *);
 struct thermal_cooling_device *thermal_cooling_device_register(char *, void *,
 		const struct thermal_cooling_device_ops *);
 void thermal_cooling_device_unregister(struct thermal_cooling_device *);
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_NET
 extern int generate_netlink_event(u32 orig, enum events event);
+#else
+static inline int generate_netlink_event(u32 orig, enum events event)
+{
+	return 0;
+}
+#endif
 
 #endif /* __THERMAL_H__ */