diff --git a/drivers/watchdog/hpwdt.c b/drivers/watchdog/hpwdt.c
index 1eff743ec497..ae60406ea8a1 100644
--- a/drivers/watchdog/hpwdt.c
+++ b/drivers/watchdog/hpwdt.c
@@ -814,6 +814,9 @@ static int __devinit hpwdt_init_one(struct pci_dev *dev,
 	hpwdt_timer_reg = pci_mem_addr + 0x70;
 	hpwdt_timer_con = pci_mem_addr + 0x72;
 
+	/* Make sure that timer is disabled until /dev/watchdog is opened */
+	hpwdt_stop();
+
 	/* Make sure that we have a valid soft_margin */
 	if (hpwdt_change_timer(soft_margin))
 		hpwdt_change_timer(DEFAULT_MARGIN);
diff --git a/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_core.c b/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_core.c
index 6aa46a90ff02..3796434991fa 100644
--- a/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_core.c
+++ b/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_core.c
@@ -128,11 +128,12 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(watchdog_register_device);
 void watchdog_unregister_device(struct watchdog_device *wdd)
 {
 	int ret;
-	int devno = wdd->cdev.dev;
+	int devno;
 
 	if (wdd == NULL)
 		return;
 
+	devno = wdd->cdev.dev;
 	ret = watchdog_dev_unregister(wdd);
 	if (ret)
 		pr_err("error unregistering /dev/watchdog (err=%d)\n", ret);