diff --git a/include/linux/kernel.h b/include/linux/kernel.h
index 341551c7b4c8..5f4554b8348a 100644
--- a/include/linux/kernel.h
+++ b/include/linux/kernel.h
@@ -557,7 +557,7 @@ do {							\
 
 #define do_trace_printk(fmt, args...)					\
 do {									\
-	static const char *trace_printk_fmt				\
+	static const char *trace_printk_fmt __used			\
 		__attribute__((section("__trace_printk_fmt"))) =	\
 		__builtin_constant_p(fmt) ? fmt : NULL;			\
 									\
@@ -604,7 +604,7 @@ extern int __trace_puts(unsigned long ip, const char *str, int size);
  */
 
 #define trace_puts(str) ({						\
-	static const char *trace_printk_fmt				\
+	static const char *trace_printk_fmt __used			\
 		__attribute__((section("__trace_printk_fmt"))) =	\
 		__builtin_constant_p(str) ? str : NULL;			\
 									\
@@ -624,7 +624,7 @@ extern void trace_dump_stack(int skip);
 #define ftrace_vprintk(fmt, vargs)					\
 do {									\
 	if (__builtin_constant_p(fmt)) {				\
-		static const char *trace_printk_fmt			\
+		static const char *trace_printk_fmt __used		\
 		  __attribute__((section("__trace_printk_fmt"))) =	\
 			__builtin_constant_p(fmt) ? fmt : NULL;		\
 									\
diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace_printk.c b/kernel/trace/trace_printk.c
index a9077c1b4ad3..fdb23e84b011 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace_printk.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace_printk.c
@@ -272,6 +272,9 @@ static int t_show(struct seq_file *m, void *v)
 	const char *str = *fmt;
 	int i;
 
+	if (!*fmt)
+		return 0;
+
 	seq_printf(m, "0x%lx : \"", *(unsigned long *)fmt);
 
 	/*