--- a/net/wireless/core.c
+++ b/net/wireless/core.c
@@ -951,6 +951,15 @@ static int cfg80211_netdev_notifier_call
 		wdev->sme_state = CFG80211_SME_IDLE;
 		mutex_unlock(&rdev->devlist_mtx);
 #ifdef CONFIG_CFG80211_WEXT
+#ifdef CONFIG_WIRELESS_EXT
+		if (!dev->wireless_handlers)
+			dev->wireless_handlers = &cfg80211_wext_handler;
+#else
+		printk_once(KERN_WARNING "cfg80211: wext will not work because "
+			    "kernel was compiled with CONFIG_WIRELESS_EXT=n. "
+			    "Tools using wext interface, like iwconfig will "
+			    "not work.\n");
+#endif
 		wdev->wext.default_key = -1;
 		wdev->wext.default_mgmt_key = -1;
 		wdev->wext.connect.auth_type = NL80211_AUTHTYPE_AUTOMATIC;