diff --git a/backend.c b/backend.c
index 0ed16a58..7f1fef88 100644
--- a/backend.c
+++ b/backend.c
@@ -166,10 +166,6 @@ static int sanity_check_all_drivers(void)
 			sr_err("No dev_list in driver %d ('%s').", i, d);
 			errors++;
 		}
-		if (!drivers[i]->dev_clear) {
-			sr_err("No dev_clear in driver %d ('%s').", i, d);
-			errors++;
-		}
 		/* Note: config_get() is optional. */
 		if (!drivers[i]->config_set) {
 			sr_err("No config_set in driver %d ('%s').", i, d);
diff --git a/device.c b/device.c
index c0df1ecc..212ddb7d 100644
--- a/device.c
+++ b/device.c
@@ -456,20 +456,31 @@ SR_API GSList *sr_dev_list(const struct sr_dev_driver *driver)
 }
 
 /**
- * Clear all devices/instances of the specified driver.
+ * Clear the list of device instances a driver knows about.
  *
- * @param driver The driver to use. Must not be NULL.
+ * @param driver The driver to use. This must be a pointer to one of
+ *               the entries returned by sr_driver_list(). Must not be NULL.
  *
- * @return SR_OK upon success, a negative error code upon errors.
+ * @retval SR_OK Success
+ * @retval SR_ERR_ARG Invalid driver
  *
  * @since 0.2.0
  */
 SR_API int sr_dev_clear(const struct sr_dev_driver *driver)
 {
-	if (driver && driver->dev_clear)
-		return driver->dev_clear();
+	int ret;
+
+	if (!driver) {
+		sr_err("Invalid driver.");
+		return SR_ERR_ARG;
+	}
+
+	if (driver->dev_clear)
+		ret = driver->dev_clear();
 	else
-		return SR_OK;
+		ret = std_dev_clear(driver, NULL);
+
+	return ret;
 }
 
 /**