diff --git a/include/sound/control.h b/include/sound/control.h
index 0426139..75f3054 100644
--- a/include/sound/control.h
+++ b/include/sound/control.h
@@ -93,12 +93,17 @@
 
 struct pid;
 
+enum {
+	SND_CTL_SUBDEV_PCM,
+	SND_CTL_SUBDEV_RAWMIDI,
+	SND_CTL_SUBDEV_ITEMS,
+};
+
 struct snd_ctl_file {
 	struct list_head list;		/* list of all control files */
 	struct snd_card *card;
 	struct pid *pid;
-	int prefer_pcm_subdevice;
-	int prefer_rawmidi_subdevice;
+	int preferred_subdevice[SND_CTL_SUBDEV_ITEMS];
 	wait_queue_head_t change_sleep;
 	spinlock_t read_lock;
 	struct fasync_struct *fasync;
@@ -138,6 +143,8 @@
 #define snd_ctl_unregister_ioctl_compat(fcn)
 #endif
 
+int snd_ctl_get_preferred_subdevice(struct snd_card *card, int type);
+
 static inline unsigned int snd_ctl_get_ioffnum(struct snd_kcontrol *kctl, struct snd_ctl_elem_id *id)
 {
 	return id->numid - kctl->id.numid;