diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_utils.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_utils.c
index 029854ae65fc..e28eae4a8f70 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_utils.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_utils.c
@@ -101,5 +101,6 @@ void set_timer_ms(struct timer_list *t, unsigned long timeout)
 	 */
 	barrier();
 
-	mod_timer(t, jiffies + timeout);
+	/* Keep t->expires = 0 reserved to indicate a canceled timer. */
+	mod_timer(t, jiffies + timeout ?: 1);
 }