diff --git a/arch/powerpc/cpu/mpc85xx/fdt.c b/arch/powerpc/cpu/mpc85xx/fdt.c
index d20c94c0f7c1846f5634baeaf41edc2b1f7f33d6..9d2d76956ed9f6a5cd923413499e742c3cd092df 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/cpu/mpc85xx/fdt.c
+++ b/arch/powerpc/cpu/mpc85xx/fdt.c
@@ -504,9 +504,8 @@ void fdt_fixup_fman_firmware(void *blob)
 		       fdt_strerror(rc));
 		return;
 	}
-	phandle = fdt_alloc_phandle(blob);
-	rc = fdt_setprop_cell(blob, fwnode, "linux,phandle", phandle);
-	if (rc < 0) {
+	phandle = fdt_create_phandle(blob, fwnode);
+	if (!phandle) {
 		char s[64];
 		fdt_get_path(blob, fwnode, s, sizeof(s));
 		printf("Could not add phandle property to node %s: %s\n", s,
diff --git a/common/fdt_support.c b/common/fdt_support.c
index 46aa84220b2b981d0ea42be3e67ab50af1ed4958..abf6d5378101c2aef2406b427b19eb8b10ee7e23 100644
--- a/common/fdt_support.c
+++ b/common/fdt_support.c
@@ -1182,14 +1182,11 @@ int fdt_node_offset_by_compat_reg(void *blob, const char *compat,
  */
 int fdt_alloc_phandle(void *blob)
 {
-	int offset, len, phandle = 0;
-	const u32 *val;
+	int offset, phandle = 0;
 
 	for (offset = fdt_next_node(blob, -1, NULL); offset >= 0;
 	     offset = fdt_next_node(blob, offset, NULL)) {
-		val = fdt_getprop(blob, offset, "linux,phandle", &len);
-		if (val)
-			phandle = max(*val, phandle);
+		phandle = max(phandle, fdt_get_phandle(blob, offset));
 	}
 
 	return phandle + 1;
@@ -1241,15 +1238,22 @@ int fdt_set_phandle(void *fdt, int nodeoffset, uint32_t phandle)
  * @fdt: ptr to device tree
  * @nodeoffset: node to update
  */
-int fdt_create_phandle(void *fdt, int nodeoffset)
+unsigned int fdt_create_phandle(void *fdt, int nodeoffset)
 {
 	/* see if there is a phandle already */
 	int phandle = fdt_get_phandle(fdt, nodeoffset);
 
 	/* if we got 0, means no phandle so create one */
 	if (phandle == 0) {
+		int ret;
+
 		phandle = fdt_alloc_phandle(fdt);
-		fdt_set_phandle(fdt, nodeoffset, phandle);
+		ret = fdt_set_phandle(fdt, nodeoffset, phandle);
+		if (ret < 0) {
+			printf("Can't set phandle %u: %s\n", phandle,
+			       fdt_strerror(ret));
+			return 0;
+		}
 	}
 
 	return phandle;
diff --git a/include/fdt_support.h b/include/fdt_support.h
index 8f06aacf7ab50313adfb562ea18d3cf734f9e2c8..4826eee1ba0f3a72be29bfa458af7f3afbfd352f 100644
--- a/include/fdt_support.h
+++ b/include/fdt_support.h
@@ -36,6 +36,13 @@ void do_fixup_by_path(void *fdt, const char *path, const char *prop,
 		      const void *val, int len, int create);
 void do_fixup_by_path_u32(void *fdt, const char *path, const char *prop,
 			  u32 val, int create);
+
+static inline void do_fixup_by_path_string(void *fdt, const char *path,
+					   const char *prop, const char *status)
+{
+	do_fixup_by_path(fdt, path, prop, status, strlen(status) + 1, 1);
+}
+
 void do_fixup_by_prop(void *fdt,
 		      const char *pname, const void *pval, int plen,
 		      const char *prop, const void *val, int len,
@@ -90,7 +97,7 @@ int fdt_node_offset_by_compat_reg(void *blob, const char *compat,
 					phys_addr_t compat_off);
 int fdt_alloc_phandle(void *blob);
 int fdt_set_phandle(void *fdt, int nodeoffset, uint32_t phandle);
-int fdt_create_phandle(void *fdt, int nodeoffset);
+unsigned int fdt_create_phandle(void *fdt, int nodeoffset);
 int fdt_add_edid(void *blob, const char *compat, unsigned char *buf);
 
 int fdt_verify_alias_address(void *fdt, int anode, const char *alias,