diff --git a/src/operator/nn/dropout-inl.h b/src/operator/nn/dropout-inl.h
index 75fa4e20b1de..2a643a266b2b 100644
--- a/src/operator/nn/dropout-inl.h
+++ b/src/operator/nn/dropout-inl.h
@@ -492,24 +492,6 @@ class DropoutOp {
 #endif  // MXNET_USE_CUDNN_DROPOUT
 };  // class DropoutOp
 
-inline OpStatePtr CreateDropoutState(const nnvm::NodeAttrs &attrs,
-                                     const Context ctx,
-                                     const mxnet::ShapeVector &in_shapes,
-                                     const std::vector<int> &in_types) {
-  const DropoutParam& param = nnvm::get<DropoutParam>(attrs.parsed);
-  OpStatePtr state;
-  MSHADOW_REAL_TYPE_SWITCH(in_types[dropout::kData], DType, {
-    if (ctx.dev_type == kGPU) {
-      state = OpStatePtr::Create<DropoutOp<gpu, DType>>(param, ctx);
-    } else {
-      state = OpStatePtr::Create<DropoutOp<cpu, DType>>(param, ctx);
-    }
-    return state;
-  });
-  LOG(FATAL) << "should never reach here";
-  return OpStatePtr();  // should never reach here
-}
-
 template<typename xpu>
 void DropoutCompute(const OpStatePtr& state,
                     const OpContext& ctx,
diff --git a/src/operator/nn/dropout.cc b/src/operator/nn/dropout.cc
index afad6fd5cc80..4b00bf9dac83 100644
--- a/src/operator/nn/dropout.cc
+++ b/src/operator/nn/dropout.cc
@@ -27,6 +27,29 @@
 #include "./dropout-inl.h"
 #include "../operator_common.h"
 
+namespace {
+
+OpStatePtr CreateDropoutState(const nnvm::NodeAttrs &attrs,
+                                     const Context ctx,
+                                     const mxnet::ShapeVector &in_shapes,
+                                     const std::vector<int> &in_types) {
+  const DropoutParam& param = nnvm::get<DropoutParam>(attrs.parsed);
+  OpStatePtr state;
+  MSHADOW_REAL_TYPE_SWITCH(in_types[dropout::kData], DType, {
+    if (ctx.dev_type == kGPU) {
+      state = OpStatePtr::Create<DropoutOp<gpu, DType>>(param, ctx);
+    } else {
+      state = OpStatePtr::Create<DropoutOp<cpu, DType>>(param, ctx);
+    }
+    return state;
+  });
+  LOG(FATAL) << "should never reach here";
+  return OpStatePtr();  // should never reach here
+}
+
+}  // anonymous namespace
+
+
 namespace mxnet {
 namespace op {