diff --git a/kernel/watchdog.c b/kernel/watchdog.c
index 36491cd5b7d4a595a2c3a432ecce769caafb24c7..e952a1394d265fbbb6804fc8e233e0aaf4ee6fa2 100644
--- a/kernel/watchdog.c
+++ b/kernel/watchdog.c
@@ -438,7 +438,7 @@ static int watchdog_enable(int cpu)
 
 	/* create the watchdog thread */
 	if (!p) {
-		p = kthread_create(watchdog, (void *)(unsigned long)cpu, "watchdog/%d", cpu);
+		p = kthread_create_on_node(watchdog, NULL, cpu_to_node(cpu), "watchdog/%d", cpu);
 		if (IS_ERR(p)) {
 			printk(KERN_ERR "softlockup watchdog for %i failed\n", cpu);
 			if (!err) {