The 28-year-old is not contracted by the South African Rugby Union and had been expected to miss the three-match series with the Lions in June and July of this year.
While other regular Springboks such as John Smit and Victor Matfield returned home from spells abroad in order to cement their national places ahead of the Lions' arrival, van der Linde did the opposite, leaving the Cheetahs to move to Ireland after the conclusion of last year's Currie Cup campaign.
The decision was not met with a kind eye by de Villiers, with van der Linde not featuring in any of the three November internationals against England, Scotland and Wales.
However, Leinster have confirmed that they will release van der Linde if he is selected to face the Lions, leaving the ball very much in de Villiers' court.
The 122kg South Africa U-21 and Schools international is determined to resurrect his Springbok career, with South African newspaper Sondag claiming that he sent a letter to SA Rugby explaining the situation regarding his release.
"CJ's desire is still very much to play for the Springboks," van der Linde's agent Stefan Weyers told Sondag.
Equally adept on either side of the scrum, the 56-times capped van der Linde's experience could yet be vital to the Boks' hopes of avenging their 1997 series defeat to the Lions.
