> +@search exists@ > +local idexpression id; > +expression x,e,e1; > +position p1,p2; > +type T,T1,T2; > +@@ > + > +id = of_find_device_by_node@p1(x) > +... when != e = id I suggest to increase your software development attention also for another implementation detail. Source code analysis triggers challenges for safe data flow handling. the semantic patch language supports search specifications for the exclusion of specific assignments. Does this SmPL code contain a questionable order for the source and target metavariables? Can the following variant be more appropriate? + ... when != id = e > +if (id == NULL || ...) { ... return ...; } > +... when != put_device(&id->dev) > + when != platform_device_put(id) > + when != of_dev_put(id) > + when != if (id) { ... put_device(&id->dev) ... } > + when != e1 = (T)id Would you like to avoid that the return value from the shown function call gets overwritten in the variable before it was used once at least (when a bit of extra C code is tolerated before a null pointer check)? Regards, Markus