diff --git a/drivers/staging/media/lirc/lirc_sir.c b/drivers/staging/media/lirc/lirc_sir.c
index 181ac632afe3221103650235ef92ad0ea2121b99..e12ec50bf0bf7531cb76ef129149d77f531fa525 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/media/lirc/lirc_sir.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/media/lirc/lirc_sir.c
@@ -325,6 +325,8 @@ static int init_port(void)
 {
 	int retval;
 
+	setup_timer(&timerlist, sir_timeout, 0);
+
 	/* get I/O port access and IRQ line */
 	if (!request_region(io, 8, KBUILD_MODNAME)) {
 		pr_err("i/o port 0x%.4x already in use.\n", io);
@@ -339,8 +341,6 @@ static int init_port(void)
 	}
 	pr_info("I/O port 0x%.4x, IRQ %d.\n", io, irq);
 
-	setup_timer(&timerlist, sir_timeout, 0);
-
 	return 0;
 }