diff --git a/include/linux/iio/iio.h b/include/linux/iio/iio.h
index 655e34a08d94..1c1d02107722 100644
--- a/include/linux/iio/iio.h
+++ b/include/linux/iio/iio.h
@@ -649,6 +649,26 @@ static inline struct iio_dev *iio_device_get(struct iio_dev *indio_dev)
 	return indio_dev ? dev_to_iio_dev(get_device(&indio_dev->dev)) : NULL;
 }
 
+/**
+ * iio_device_set_parent() - assign parent device to the IIO device object
+ * @indio_dev: 		IIO device structure
+ * @parent:		reference to parent device object
+ *
+ * This utility must be called between IIO device allocation
+ * (via devm_iio_device_alloc()) & IIO device registration
+ * (via {devm_}iio_device_register()).
+ * By default, the device allocation will also assign a parent device to
+ * the IIO device object. In cases where devm_iio_device_alloc() is used,
+ * sometimes the parent device must be different than the device used to
+ * manage the allocation.
+ * In that case, this helper should be used to change the parent, hence the
+ * requirement to call this between allocation & registration.
+ **/
+static inline void iio_device_set_parent(struct iio_dev *indio_dev,
+					 struct device *parent)
+{
+	indio_dev->dev.parent = parent;
+}
 
 /**
  * iio_device_set_drvdata() - Set device driver data