--- busybox-1.20.0/util-linux/mdev.c
+++ busybox-1.20.0-mdev/util-linux/mdev.c
@@ -661,37 +661,45 @@ static int FAST_FUNC dirAction(const cha
 static void load_firmware(const char *firmware, const char *sysfs_path)
 {
 	int cnt;
-	int firmware_fd, loading_fd, data_fd;
+	int firmware_fd, loading_fd;
 
 	/* check for /lib/firmware/$FIRMWARE */
 	xchdir("/lib/firmware");
-	firmware_fd = xopen(firmware, O_RDONLY);
-
-	/* in case we goto out ... */
-	data_fd = -1;
+	firmware_fd = open(firmware, O_RDONLY); /* can fail */
 
 	/* check for /sys/$DEVPATH/loading ... give 30 seconds to appear */
 	xchdir(sysfs_path);
 	for (cnt = 0; cnt < 30; ++cnt) {
 		loading_fd = open("loading", O_WRONLY);
-		if (loading_fd != -1)
+		if (loading_fd >= 0)
 			goto loading;
 		sleep(1);
 	}
 	goto out;
 
  loading:
-	/* tell kernel we're loading by "echo 1 > /sys/$DEVPATH/loading" */
-	if (full_write(loading_fd, "1", 1) != 1)
-		goto out;
-
-	/* load firmware into /sys/$DEVPATH/data */
-	data_fd = open("data", O_WRONLY);
-	if (data_fd == -1)
-		goto out;
-	cnt = bb_copyfd_eof(firmware_fd, data_fd);
+	cnt = 0;
+	if (firmware_fd >= 0) {
+		int data_fd;
+
+		/* tell kernel we're loading by "echo 1 > /sys/$DEVPATH/loading" */
+		if (full_write(loading_fd, "1", 1) != 1)
+			goto out;
+
+		/* load firmware into /sys/$DEVPATH/data */
+		data_fd = open("data", O_WRONLY);
+		if (data_fd < 0)
+			goto out;
+		cnt = bb_copyfd_eof(firmware_fd, data_fd);
+		if (ENABLE_FEATURE_CLEAN_UP)
+			close(data_fd);
+	}
 
-	/* tell kernel result by "echo [0|-1] > /sys/$DEVPATH/loading" */
+	/* Tell kernel result by "echo [0|-1] > /sys/$DEVPATH/loading"
+	 * Note: we emit -1 if firmware file wasn't found.
+	 * There are cases when otherwise kernel would wait for minutes
+	 * before timing out.
+	 */
 	if (cnt > 0)
 		full_write(loading_fd, "0", 1);
 	else
@@ -701,7 +709,6 @@ static void load_firmware(const char *fi
 	if (ENABLE_FEATURE_CLEAN_UP) {
 		close(firmware_fd);
 		close(loading_fd);
-		close(data_fd);
 	}
 }