diff --git a/drivers/watchdog/gpio_wdt.c b/drivers/watchdog/gpio_wdt.c
index 93457cabc17861a8d8d4743cdda6fd27ed70436e..cb66c2f99ff15d2d27e5f5542efcbfe53a993b48 100644
--- a/drivers/watchdog/gpio_wdt.c
+++ b/drivers/watchdog/gpio_wdt.c
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
 
 #define SOFT_TIMEOUT_MIN	1
 #define SOFT_TIMEOUT_DEF	60
-#define SOFT_TIMEOUT_MAX	0xffff
 
 enum {
 	HW_ALGO_TOGGLE,
@@ -30,11 +29,7 @@ struct gpio_wdt_priv {
 	bool			active_low;
 	bool			state;
 	bool			always_running;
-	bool			armed;
 	unsigned int		hw_algo;
-	unsigned int		hw_margin;
-	unsigned long		last_jiffies;
-	struct timer_list	timer;
 	struct watchdog_device	wdd;
 };
 
@@ -47,21 +42,10 @@ static void gpio_wdt_disable(struct gpio_wdt_priv *priv)
 		gpio_direction_input(priv->gpio);
 }
 
-static void gpio_wdt_hwping(unsigned long data)
+static int gpio_wdt_ping(struct watchdog_device *wdd)
 {
-	struct watchdog_device *wdd = (struct watchdog_device *)data;
 	struct gpio_wdt_priv *priv = watchdog_get_drvdata(wdd);
 
-	if (priv->armed && time_after(jiffies, priv->last_jiffies +
-				      msecs_to_jiffies(wdd->timeout * 1000))) {
-		dev_crit(wdd->parent,
-			 "Timer expired. System will reboot soon!\n");
-		return;
-	}
-
-	/* Restart timer */
-	mod_timer(&priv->timer, jiffies + priv->hw_margin);
-
 	switch (priv->hw_algo) {
 	case HW_ALGO_TOGGLE:
 		/* Toggle output pin */
@@ -75,55 +59,33 @@ static void gpio_wdt_hwping(unsigned long data)
 		gpio_set_value_cansleep(priv->gpio, priv->active_low);
 		break;
 	}
-}
-
-static void gpio_wdt_start_impl(struct gpio_wdt_priv *priv)
-{
-	priv->state = priv->active_low;
-	gpio_direction_output(priv->gpio, priv->state);
-	priv->last_jiffies = jiffies;
-	gpio_wdt_hwping((unsigned long)&priv->wdd);
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static int gpio_wdt_start(struct watchdog_device *wdd)
 {
 	struct gpio_wdt_priv *priv = watchdog_get_drvdata(wdd);
 
-	gpio_wdt_start_impl(priv);
-	priv->armed = true;
+	priv->state = priv->active_low;
+	gpio_direction_output(priv->gpio, priv->state);
 
-	return 0;
+	set_bit(WDOG_HW_RUNNING, &wdd->status);
+
+	return gpio_wdt_ping(wdd);
 }
 
 static int gpio_wdt_stop(struct watchdog_device *wdd)
 {
 	struct gpio_wdt_priv *priv = watchdog_get_drvdata(wdd);
 
-	priv->armed = false;
 	if (!priv->always_running) {
-		mod_timer(&priv->timer, 0);
 		gpio_wdt_disable(priv);
+		clear_bit(WDOG_HW_RUNNING, &wdd->status);
 	}
 
 	return 0;
 }
 
-static int gpio_wdt_ping(struct watchdog_device *wdd)
-{
-	struct gpio_wdt_priv *priv = watchdog_get_drvdata(wdd);
-
-	priv->last_jiffies = jiffies;
-
-	return 0;
-}
-
-static int gpio_wdt_set_timeout(struct watchdog_device *wdd, unsigned int t)
-{
-	wdd->timeout = t;
-
-	return gpio_wdt_ping(wdd);
-}
-
 static const struct watchdog_info gpio_wdt_ident = {
 	.options	= WDIOF_MAGICCLOSE | WDIOF_KEEPALIVEPING |
 			  WDIOF_SETTIMEOUT,
@@ -135,7 +97,6 @@ static const struct watchdog_ops gpio_wdt_ops = {
 	.start		= gpio_wdt_start,
 	.stop		= gpio_wdt_stop,
 	.ping		= gpio_wdt_ping,
-	.set_timeout	= gpio_wdt_set_timeout,
 };
 
 static int gpio_wdt_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
@@ -185,9 +146,6 @@ static int gpio_wdt_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 	if (hw_margin < 2 || hw_margin > 65535)
 		return -EINVAL;
 
-	/* Use safe value (1/2 of real timeout) */
-	priv->hw_margin = msecs_to_jiffies(hw_margin / 2);
-
 	priv->always_running = of_property_read_bool(pdev->dev.of_node,
 						     "always-running");
 
@@ -196,31 +154,26 @@ static int gpio_wdt_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 	priv->wdd.info		= &gpio_wdt_ident;
 	priv->wdd.ops		= &gpio_wdt_ops;
 	priv->wdd.min_timeout	= SOFT_TIMEOUT_MIN;
-	priv->wdd.max_timeout	= SOFT_TIMEOUT_MAX;
+	priv->wdd.max_hw_heartbeat_ms = hw_margin;
 	priv->wdd.parent	= &pdev->dev;
 
 	if (watchdog_init_timeout(&priv->wdd, 0, &pdev->dev) < 0)
 		priv->wdd.timeout = SOFT_TIMEOUT_DEF;
 
-	setup_timer(&priv->timer, gpio_wdt_hwping, (unsigned long)&priv->wdd);
-
 	watchdog_stop_on_reboot(&priv->wdd);
 
-	ret = watchdog_register_device(&priv->wdd);
-	if (ret)
-		return ret;
-
 	if (priv->always_running)
-		gpio_wdt_start_impl(priv);
+		gpio_wdt_start(&priv->wdd);
 
-	return 0;
+	ret = watchdog_register_device(&priv->wdd);
+
+	return ret;
 }
 
 static int gpio_wdt_remove(struct platform_device *pdev)
 {
 	struct gpio_wdt_priv *priv = platform_get_drvdata(pdev);
 
-	del_timer_sync(&priv->timer);
 	watchdog_unregister_device(&priv->wdd);
 
 	return 0;