diff --git a/drivers/net/r8169.c b/drivers/net/r8169.c
index 6693a305bcceb52f37120b4236ebb870e88b0f55..521b5f0618a4a904a4d736d2263a6573eb9dbd5e 100644
--- a/drivers/net/r8169.c
+++ b/drivers/net/r8169.c
@@ -1368,11 +1368,7 @@ static inline void rtl8169_request_timer(struct net_device *dev)
 	    (tp->phy_version >= RTL_GIGA_PHY_VER_H))
 		return;
 
-	init_timer(timer);
-	timer->expires = jiffies + RTL8169_PHY_TIMEOUT;
-	timer->data = (unsigned long)(dev);
-	timer->function = rtl8169_phy_timer;
-	add_timer(timer);
+	mod_timer(timer, jiffies + RTL8169_PHY_TIMEOUT);
 }
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_NET_POLL_CONTROLLER
@@ -1685,6 +1681,10 @@ rtl8169_init_one(struct pci_dev *pdev, const struct pci_device_id *ent)
 	tp->mmio_addr = ioaddr;
 	tp->align = rtl_cfg_info[ent->driver_data].align;
 
+	init_timer(&tp->timer);
+	tp->timer.data = (unsigned long) dev;
+	tp->timer.function = rtl8169_phy_timer;
+
 	spin_lock_init(&tp->lock);
 
 	rc = register_netdev(dev);