diff --git a/drivers/watchdog/ts72xx_wdt.c b/drivers/watchdog/ts72xx_wdt.c
index 458c499c1223c6f73aaab93f9a6bdc7c816de5a2..18cdeb4c4258a67ccdba77fc517596eaa71819b9 100644
--- a/drivers/watchdog/ts72xx_wdt.c
+++ b/drivers/watchdog/ts72xx_wdt.c
@@ -449,6 +449,9 @@ static __devinit int ts72xx_wdt_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 	wdt->pdev = pdev;
 	mutex_init(&wdt->lock);
 
+	/* make sure that the watchdog is disabled */
+	ts72xx_wdt_stop(wdt);
+
 	error = misc_register(&ts72xx_wdt_miscdev);
 	if (error) {
 		dev_err(&pdev->dev, "failed to register miscdev\n");