diff --git a/arch/nios2/include/asm/gpio.h b/arch/nios2/include/asm/gpio.h
index cff1dd9a1abb2e1d591644e8c0f978d093c91846..36a71324d7fcd8da1a1404d248862e09792f845b 100644
--- a/arch/nios2/include/asm/gpio.h
+++ b/arch/nios2/include/asm/gpio.h
@@ -26,6 +26,11 @@ static inline int gpio_request(unsigned gpio, const char *label)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static inline int gpio_free(unsigned gpio)
+{
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static inline int gpio_direction_input(unsigned gpio)
 {
 	writel(1, CONFIG_SYS_GPIO_BASE + (gpio << 2));
@@ -49,6 +54,7 @@ static inline void gpio_set_value(unsigned gpio, int value)
 }
 #else
 extern int gpio_request(unsigned gpio, const char *label);
+extern int gpio_free(unsigned gpio);
 extern int gpio_direction_input(unsigned gpio);
 extern int gpio_direction_output(unsigned gpio, int value);
 extern int gpio_get_value(unsigned gpio);
diff --git a/board/altera/nios2-generic/gpio.c b/board/altera/nios2-generic/gpio.c
index d4496843fa6d07c40e2d595c0507ebba3b8ea81d..8c639ce360ab702a80ddf8e5975196df48fa54b4 100644
--- a/board/altera/nios2-generic/gpio.c
+++ b/board/altera/nios2-generic/gpio.c
@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@ int gpio_request(unsigned gpio, const char *label)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+int gpio_free(unsigned gpio)
+{
+	return 0;
+}
+
 int gpio_direction_input(unsigned gpio)
 {
 	u32 mask = 1 << gpio;