diff --git a/board/freescale/corenet_ds/eth_hydra.c b/board/freescale/corenet_ds/eth_hydra.c
index 91b3408..a7a5e13 100644
--- a/board/freescale/corenet_ds/eth_hydra.c
+++ b/board/freescale/corenet_ds/eth_hydra.c
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@
 #include <fm_eth.h>
 #include <fsl_mdio.h>
 #include <malloc.h>
+#include <fdt_support.h>
 #include <asm/fsl_dtsec.h>
 
 #include "../common/ngpixis.h"
@@ -200,25 +201,6 @@
 }
 
 /*
- * Given an alias or a path for a node, set the status of that node.
- *
- * If 'alias' is not a valid alias, then it is treated as a full path to the
- * node.  No error checking is performed.
- *
- * This function is normally called to set the status for a virtual MDIO node.
- */
-static void fdt_set_node_status(void *fdt, const char *alias,
-				const char *status)
-{
-	const char *path = fdt_get_alias(fdt, alias);
-
-	if (!path)
-		path = alias;
-
-	do_fixup_by_path(fdt, path, "status", status, strlen(status) + 1, 1);
-}
-
-/*
  * Given an alias or a path for a node, set the mux value of that node.
  *
  * If 'alias' is not a valid alias, then it is treated as a full path to the
@@ -372,14 +354,14 @@
 		case PHY_INTERFACE_MODE_SGMII:
 			lane = serdes_get_first_lane(SGMII_FM1_DTSEC1 + idx);
 			if (lane >= 0) {
-				fdt_set_node_status(fdt, "emi1_sgmii", "okay");
+				fdt_status_okay_by_alias(fdt, "emi1_sgmii");
 				/* Also set the MUX value */
 				fdt_set_mdio_mux(fdt, "emi1_sgmii",
 						 mdio_mux[i].val);
 			}
 			break;
 		case PHY_INTERFACE_MODE_RGMII:
-			fdt_set_node_status(fdt, "emi1_rgmii", "okay");
+			fdt_status_okay_by_alias(fdt, "emi1_rgmii");
 			break;
 		default:
 			break;
@@ -388,7 +370,7 @@
 
 	lane = serdes_get_first_lane(XAUI_FM1);
 	if (lane >= 0)
-		fdt_set_node_status(fdt, "emi2_xgmii", "okay");
+		fdt_status_okay_by_alias(fdt, "emi2_xgmii");
 #endif
 }
 
diff --git a/board/freescale/corenet_ds/eth_p4080.c b/board/freescale/corenet_ds/eth_p4080.c
index d4657f7..00dfa9a 100644
--- a/board/freescale/corenet_ds/eth_p4080.c
+++ b/board/freescale/corenet_ds/eth_p4080.c
@@ -199,22 +199,6 @@
 	return mdio_register(bus);
 }
 
-/*
- * Sets the specified node's status to the value contained in "status"
- * If the first character of the specified path is "/" then we use
- * alias as a path.  Otherwise, we look for an alias of that name
- */
-static void fdt_set_node_status(void *fdt, const char *alias,
-			const char *status)
-{
-	const char *path = fdt_get_alias(fdt, alias);
-
-	if (!path)
-		path = alias;
-
-	do_fixup_by_path(fdt, path, "status", status, strlen(status) + 1, 1);
-}
-
 void board_ft_fman_fixup_port(void *blob, char * prop, phys_addr_t pa,
 				enum fm_port port, int offset)
 {
@@ -255,28 +239,28 @@
 	 */
 
 	/* We've got six MDIO nodes that may or may not need to exist */
-	fdt_set_node_status(fdt, "emi1_slot3", "disabled");
-	fdt_set_node_status(fdt, "emi1_slot4", "disabled");
-	fdt_set_node_status(fdt, "emi1_slot5", "disabled");
-	fdt_set_node_status(fdt, "emi2_slot4", "disabled");
-	fdt_set_node_status(fdt, "emi2_slot5", "disabled");
+	fdt_status_disabled_by_alias(fdt, "emi1_slot3");
+	fdt_status_disabled_by_alias(fdt, "emi1_slot4");
+	fdt_status_disabled_by_alias(fdt, "emi1_slot5");
+	fdt_status_disabled_by_alias(fdt, "emi2_slot4");
+	fdt_status_disabled_by_alias(fdt, "emi2_slot5");
 
 	for (i = 0; i < NUM_FM_PORTS; i++) {
 		switch (mdio_mux[i]) {
 		case EMI1_SLOT3:
-			fdt_set_node_status(fdt, "emi1_slot3", "okay");
+			fdt_status_okay_by_alias(fdt, "emi1_slot3");
 			break;
 		case EMI1_SLOT4:
-			fdt_set_node_status(fdt, "emi1_slot4", "okay");
+			fdt_status_okay_by_alias(fdt, "emi1_slot4");
 			break;
 		case EMI1_SLOT5:
-			fdt_set_node_status(fdt, "emi1_slot5", "okay");
+			fdt_status_okay_by_alias(fdt, "emi1_slot5");
 			break;
 		case EMI2_SLOT4:
-			fdt_set_node_status(fdt, "emi2_slot4", "okay");
+			fdt_status_okay_by_alias(fdt, "emi2_slot4");
 			break;
 		case EMI2_SLOT5:
-			fdt_set_node_status(fdt, "emi2_slot5", "okay");
+			fdt_status_okay_by_alias(fdt, "emi2_slot5");
 			break;
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/common/fdt_support.c b/common/fdt_support.c
index e0d3fe3..bdda64d 100644
--- a/common/fdt_support.c
+++ b/common/fdt_support.c
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
  * (C) Copyright 2007
  * Gerald Van Baren, Custom IDEAS, vanbaren@cideas.com
  *
- * Copyright 2010 Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
+ * Copyright 2010-2011 Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
  *
  * See file CREDITS for list of people who contributed to this
  * project.
@@ -1259,6 +1259,64 @@
 	return phandle;
 }
 
+/*
+ * fdt_set_node_status: Set status for the given node
+ *
+ * @fdt: ptr to device tree
+ * @nodeoffset: node to update
+ * @status: FDT_STATUS_OKAY, FDT_STATUS_DISABLED,
+ *	    FDT_STATUS_FAIL, FDT_STATUS_FAIL_ERROR_CODE
+ * @error_code: optional, only used if status is FDT_STATUS_FAIL_ERROR_CODE
+ */
+int fdt_set_node_status(void *fdt, int nodeoffset,
+			enum fdt_status status, unsigned int error_code)
+{
+	char buf[16];
+	int ret = 0;
+
+	if (nodeoffset < 0)
+		return nodeoffset;
+
+	switch (status) {
+	case FDT_STATUS_OKAY:
+		ret = fdt_setprop_string(fdt, nodeoffset, "status", "okay");
+		break;
+	case FDT_STATUS_DISABLED:
+		ret = fdt_setprop_string(fdt, nodeoffset, "status", "disabled");
+		break;
+	case FDT_STATUS_FAIL:
+		ret = fdt_setprop_string(fdt, nodeoffset, "status", "fail");
+		break;
+	case FDT_STATUS_FAIL_ERROR_CODE:
+		sprintf(buf, "fail-%d", error_code);
+		ret = fdt_setprop_string(fdt, nodeoffset, "status", buf);
+		break;
+	default:
+		printf("Invalid fdt status: %x\n", status);
+		ret = -1;
+		break;
+	}
+
+	return ret;
+}
+
+/*
+ * fdt_set_status_by_alias: Set status for the given node given an alias
+ *
+ * @fdt: ptr to device tree
+ * @alias: alias of node to update
+ * @status: FDT_STATUS_OKAY, FDT_STATUS_DISABLED,
+ *	    FDT_STATUS_FAIL, FDT_STATUS_FAIL_ERROR_CODE
+ * @error_code: optional, only used if status is FDT_STATUS_FAIL_ERROR_CODE
+ */
+int fdt_set_status_by_alias(void *fdt, const char* alias,
+			    enum fdt_status status, unsigned int error_code)
+{
+	int offset = fdt_path_offset(fdt, alias);
+
+	return fdt_set_node_status(fdt, offset, status, error_code);
+}
+
 #if defined(CONFIG_VIDEO)
 int fdt_add_edid(void *blob, const char *compat, unsigned char *edid_buf)
 {
diff --git a/include/fdt_support.h b/include/fdt_support.h
index 4826eee..c7b4605 100644
--- a/include/fdt_support.h
+++ b/include/fdt_support.h
@@ -104,5 +104,33 @@
 			      u64 addr);
 u64 fdt_get_base_address(void *fdt, int node);
 
+enum fdt_status {
+	FDT_STATUS_OKAY,
+	FDT_STATUS_DISABLED,
+	FDT_STATUS_FAIL,
+	FDT_STATUS_FAIL_ERROR_CODE,
+};
+int fdt_set_node_status(void *fdt, int nodeoffset,
+			enum fdt_status status, unsigned int error_code);
+static inline int fdt_status_okay(void *fdt, int nodeoffset)
+{
+	return fdt_set_node_status(fdt, nodeoffset, FDT_STATUS_OKAY, 0);
+}
+static inline int fdt_status_disabled(void *fdt, int nodeoffset)
+{
+	return fdt_set_node_status(fdt, nodeoffset, FDT_STATUS_DISABLED, 0);
+}
+
+int fdt_set_status_by_alias(void *fdt, const char* alias,
+			    enum fdt_status status, unsigned int error_code);
+static inline int fdt_status_okay_by_alias(void *fdt, const char* alias)
+{
+	return fdt_set_status_by_alias(fdt, alias, FDT_STATUS_OKAY, 0);
+}
+static inline int fdt_status_disabled_by_alias(void *fdt, const char* alias)
+{
+	return fdt_set_status_by_alias(fdt, alias, FDT_STATUS_DISABLED, 0);
+}
+
 #endif /* ifdef CONFIG_OF_LIBFDT */
 #endif /* ifndef __FDT_SUPPORT_H */