diff --git a/crypto/api.c b/crypto/api.c
index 2a81e98..afe4610 100644
--- a/crypto/api.c
+++ b/crypto/api.c
@@ -257,6 +257,16 @@
 		mask |= CRYPTO_ALG_TESTED;
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * If the internal flag is set for a cipher, require a caller to
+	 * to invoke the cipher with the internal flag to use that cipher.
+	 * Also, if a caller wants to allocate a cipher that may or may
+	 * not be an internal cipher, use type | CRYPTO_ALG_INTERNAL and
+	 * !(mask & CRYPTO_ALG_INTERNAL).
+	 */
+	if (!((type | mask) & CRYPTO_ALG_INTERNAL))
+		mask |= CRYPTO_ALG_INTERNAL;
+
 	larval = crypto_larval_lookup(name, type, mask);
 	if (IS_ERR(larval) || !crypto_is_larval(larval))
 		return larval;