diff --git a/block/blk-core.c b/block/blk-core.c
index 26d3a2f38a1c3db758b3394be46a3060474f5944..546a115ef6b01857bf97a68bc602b4fc927b6a67 100644
--- a/block/blk-core.c
+++ b/block/blk-core.c
@@ -983,6 +983,10 @@ static void blk_rq_timed_out_timer(struct timer_list *t)
 	kblockd_schedule_work(&q->timeout_work);
 }
 
+static void blk_timeout_work_empty(struct work_struct *work)
+{
+}
+
 /**
  * blk_alloc_queue_node - allocate a request queue
  * @gfp_mask: memory allocation flags
@@ -1037,7 +1041,7 @@ struct request_queue *blk_alloc_queue_node(gfp_t gfp_mask, int node_id,
 	timer_setup(&q->backing_dev_info->laptop_mode_wb_timer,
 		    laptop_mode_timer_fn, 0);
 	timer_setup(&q->timeout, blk_rq_timed_out_timer, 0);
-	INIT_WORK(&q->timeout_work, NULL);
+	INIT_WORK(&q->timeout_work, blk_timeout_work_empty);
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&q->timeout_list);
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&q->icq_list);
 #ifdef CONFIG_BLK_CGROUP