diff --git a/drivers/watchdog/hpwdt.c b/drivers/watchdog/hpwdt.c
index f7b5242b9c85..b2cba8851cf2 100644
--- a/drivers/watchdog/hpwdt.c
+++ b/drivers/watchdog/hpwdt.c
@@ -306,6 +306,7 @@ static int hpwdt_init_one(struct pci_dev *dev,
 	if (retval != 0)
 		goto error_init_nmi_decoding;
 
+	watchdog_stop_on_unregister(&hpwdt_dev);
 	watchdog_set_nowayout(&hpwdt_dev, nowayout);
 	watchdog_init_timeout(&hpwdt_dev, soft_margin, NULL);
 
@@ -343,9 +344,6 @@ error_pci_iomap:
 
 static void hpwdt_exit(struct pci_dev *dev)
 {
-	if (!nowayout)
-		hpwdt_stop();
-
 	watchdog_unregister_device(&hpwdt_dev);
 	hpwdt_exit_nmi_decoding();
 	pci_iounmap(dev, pci_mem_addr);