diff --git a/kernel/watchdog.c b/kernel/watchdog.c
index 997c6a16ec2..75a2ab3d0b0 100644
--- a/kernel/watchdog.c
+++ b/kernel/watchdog.c
@@ -344,6 +344,10 @@ static void watchdog_enable(unsigned int cpu)
 {
 	struct hrtimer *hrtimer = &__raw_get_cpu_var(watchdog_hrtimer);
 
+	/* kick off the timer for the hardlockup detector */
+	hrtimer_init(hrtimer, CLOCK_MONOTONIC, HRTIMER_MODE_REL);
+	hrtimer->function = watchdog_timer_fn;
+
 	if (!watchdog_enabled) {
 		kthread_park(current);
 		return;
@@ -352,10 +356,6 @@ static void watchdog_enable(unsigned int cpu)
 	/* Enable the perf event */
 	watchdog_nmi_enable(cpu);
 
-	/* kick off the timer for the hardlockup detector */
-	hrtimer_init(hrtimer, CLOCK_MONOTONIC, HRTIMER_MODE_REL);
-	hrtimer->function = watchdog_timer_fn;
-
 	/* done here because hrtimer_start can only pin to smp_processor_id() */
 	hrtimer_start(hrtimer, ns_to_ktime(sample_period),
 		      HRTIMER_MODE_REL_PINNED);
@@ -369,9 +369,6 @@ static void watchdog_disable(unsigned int cpu)
 {
 	struct hrtimer *hrtimer = &__raw_get_cpu_var(watchdog_hrtimer);
 
-	if (!watchdog_enabled)
-		return;
-
 	watchdog_set_prio(SCHED_NORMAL, 0);
 	hrtimer_cancel(hrtimer);
 	/* disable the perf event */