diff --git a/Documentation/trace/ftrace-uses.rst b/Documentation/trace/ftrace-uses.rst
index 1fbc69894eed0b..740bd0224d35fb 100644
--- a/Documentation/trace/ftrace-uses.rst
+++ b/Documentation/trace/ftrace-uses.rst
@@ -170,6 +170,14 @@ FTRACE_OPS_FL_RCU
 	a callback may be executed and RCU synchronization will not protect
 	it.
 
+FTRACE_OPS_FL_PERMANENT
+        If this is set on any ftrace ops, then the tracing cannot disabled by
+        writing 0 to the proc sysctl ftrace_enabled. Equally, a callback with
+        the flag set cannot be registered if ftrace_enabled is 0.
+
+        Livepatch uses it not to lose the function redirection, so the system
+        stays protected.
+
 
 Filtering which functions to trace
 ==================================
diff --git a/Documentation/trace/ftrace.rst b/Documentation/trace/ftrace.rst
index e3060eedb22d7c..d2b5657ed33e97 100644
--- a/Documentation/trace/ftrace.rst
+++ b/Documentation/trace/ftrace.rst
@@ -2976,7 +2976,9 @@ Note, the proc sysctl ftrace_enable is a big on/off switch for the
 function tracer. By default it is enabled (when function tracing is
 enabled in the kernel). If it is disabled, all function tracing is
 disabled. This includes not only the function tracers for ftrace, but
-also for any other uses (perf, kprobes, stack tracing, profiling, etc).
+also for any other uses (perf, kprobes, stack tracing, profiling, etc). It
+cannot be disabled if there is a callback with FTRACE_OPS_FL_PERMANENT set
+registered.
 
 Please disable this with care.
 
diff --git a/include/linux/ftrace.h b/include/linux/ftrace.h
index 8a8cb3c401b269..8385cafe4f9fc7 100644
--- a/include/linux/ftrace.h
+++ b/include/linux/ftrace.h
@@ -142,6 +142,8 @@ ftrace_func_t ftrace_ops_get_func(struct ftrace_ops *ops);
  * PID     - Is affected by set_ftrace_pid (allows filtering on those pids)
  * RCU     - Set when the ops can only be called when RCU is watching.
  * TRACE_ARRAY - The ops->private points to a trace_array descriptor.
+ * PERMANENT - Set when the ops is permanent and should not be affected by
+ *             ftrace_enabled.
  */
 enum {
 	FTRACE_OPS_FL_ENABLED			= 1 << 0,
@@ -160,6 +162,7 @@ enum {
 	FTRACE_OPS_FL_PID			= 1 << 13,
 	FTRACE_OPS_FL_RCU			= 1 << 14,
 	FTRACE_OPS_FL_TRACE_ARRAY		= 1 << 15,
+	FTRACE_OPS_FL_PERMANENT                 = 1 << 16,
 };
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_DYNAMIC_FTRACE
diff --git a/kernel/livepatch/patch.c b/kernel/livepatch/patch.c
index bd43537702bdb3..b552cf2d85f83a 100644
--- a/kernel/livepatch/patch.c
+++ b/kernel/livepatch/patch.c
@@ -196,7 +196,8 @@ static int klp_patch_func(struct klp_func *func)
 		ops->fops.func = klp_ftrace_handler;
 		ops->fops.flags = FTRACE_OPS_FL_SAVE_REGS |
 				  FTRACE_OPS_FL_DYNAMIC |
-				  FTRACE_OPS_FL_IPMODIFY;
+				  FTRACE_OPS_FL_IPMODIFY |
+				  FTRACE_OPS_FL_PERMANENT;
 
 		list_add(&ops->node, &klp_ops);
 
diff --git a/kernel/trace/ftrace.c b/kernel/trace/ftrace.c
index f296d89be75797..89e9128652ef48 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/ftrace.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/ftrace.c
@@ -326,6 +326,8 @@ int __register_ftrace_function(struct ftrace_ops *ops)
 	if (ops->flags & FTRACE_OPS_FL_SAVE_REGS_IF_SUPPORTED)
 		ops->flags |= FTRACE_OPS_FL_SAVE_REGS;
 #endif
+	if (!ftrace_enabled && (ops->flags & FTRACE_OPS_FL_PERMANENT))
+		return -EBUSY;
 
 	if (!core_kernel_data((unsigned long)ops))
 		ops->flags |= FTRACE_OPS_FL_DYNAMIC;
@@ -6754,6 +6756,18 @@ int unregister_ftrace_function(struct ftrace_ops *ops)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(unregister_ftrace_function);
 
+static bool is_permanent_ops_registered(void)
+{
+	struct ftrace_ops *op;
+
+	do_for_each_ftrace_op(op, ftrace_ops_list) {
+		if (op->flags & FTRACE_OPS_FL_PERMANENT)
+			return true;
+	} while_for_each_ftrace_op(op);
+
+	return false;
+}
+
 int
 ftrace_enable_sysctl(struct ctl_table *table, int write,
 		     void __user *buffer, size_t *lenp,
@@ -6771,8 +6785,6 @@ ftrace_enable_sysctl(struct ctl_table *table, int write,
 	if (ret || !write || (last_ftrace_enabled == !!ftrace_enabled))
 		goto out;
 
-	last_ftrace_enabled = !!ftrace_enabled;
-
 	if (ftrace_enabled) {
 
 		/* we are starting ftrace again */
@@ -6783,12 +6795,19 @@ ftrace_enable_sysctl(struct ctl_table *table, int write,
 		ftrace_startup_sysctl();
 
 	} else {
+		if (is_permanent_ops_registered()) {
+			ftrace_enabled = true;
+			ret = -EBUSY;
+			goto out;
+		}
+
 		/* stopping ftrace calls (just send to ftrace_stub) */
 		ftrace_trace_function = ftrace_stub;
 
 		ftrace_shutdown_sysctl();
 	}
 
+	last_ftrace_enabled = !!ftrace_enabled;
  out:
 	mutex_unlock(&ftrace_lock);
 	return ret;