diff --git a/Documentation/rtc.txt b/Documentation/rtc.txt
index 1ef6bb88cd00..7c701b88d6d5 100644
--- a/Documentation/rtc.txt
+++ b/Documentation/rtc.txt
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ RTC class framework, but can't be supported by the older driver.
 
     *	RTC_AIE_ON, RTC_AIE_OFF, RTC_ALM_SET, RTC_ALM_READ ... when the RTC
 	is connected to an IRQ line, it can often issue an alarm IRQ up to
-	24 hours in the future.
+	24 hours in the future.  (Use RTC_WKALM_* by preference.)
 
     *	RTC_WKALM_SET, RTC_WKALM_RD ... RTCs that can issue alarms beyond
 	the next 24 hours use a slightly more powerful API, which supports
@@ -175,10 +175,7 @@ driver returns ENOIOCTLCMD.  Some common examples:
 	called with appropriate values.
 
     *	RTC_ALM_SET, RTC_ALM_READ, RTC_WKALM_SET, RTC_WKALM_RD: the
-	set_alarm/read_alarm functions will be called.  To differentiate
-	between the ALM and WKALM, check the larger fields of the rtc_wkalrm
-	struct (like tm_year).  These will be set to -1 when using ALM and
-	will be set to proper values when using WKALM.
+	set_alarm/read_alarm functions will be called.
 
     *	RTC_IRQP_SET, RTC_IRQP_READ: the irq_set_freq function will be called
 	to set the frequency while the framework will handle the read for you
diff --git a/drivers/rtc/interface.c b/drivers/rtc/interface.c
index b5cc5f82436d..ad66c6ecf365 100644
--- a/drivers/rtc/interface.c
+++ b/drivers/rtc/interface.c
@@ -125,6 +125,10 @@ int rtc_set_alarm(struct rtc_device *rtc, struct rtc_wkalrm *alarm)
 {
 	int err;
 
+	err = rtc_valid_tm(&alarm->time);
+	if (err != 0)
+		return err;
+
 	err = mutex_lock_interruptible(&rtc->ops_lock);
 	if (err)
 		return -EBUSY;
diff --git a/drivers/rtc/rtc-dev.c b/drivers/rtc/rtc-dev.c
index 671b14ec28bb..f4e5f0040ff7 100644
--- a/drivers/rtc/rtc-dev.c
+++ b/drivers/rtc/rtc-dev.c
@@ -277,12 +277,48 @@ static int rtc_dev_ioctl(struct inode *inode, struct file *file,
 
 		alarm.enabled = 0;
 		alarm.pending = 0;
-		alarm.time.tm_mday = -1;
-		alarm.time.tm_mon = -1;
-		alarm.time.tm_year = -1;
 		alarm.time.tm_wday = -1;
 		alarm.time.tm_yday = -1;
 		alarm.time.tm_isdst = -1;
+
+		/* RTC_ALM_SET alarms may be up to 24 hours in the future.
+		 * Rather than expecting every RTC to implement "don't care"
+		 * for day/month/year fields, just force the alarm to have
+		 * the right values for those fields.
+		 *
+		 * RTC_WKALM_SET should be used instead.  Not only does it
+		 * eliminate the need for a separate RTC_AIE_ON call, it
+		 * doesn't have the "alarm 23:59:59 in the future" race.
+		 *
+		 * NOTE:  some legacy code may have used invalid fields as
+		 * wildcards, exposing hardware "periodic alarm" capabilities.
+		 * Not supported here.
+		 */
+		{
+			unsigned long now, then;
+
+			err = rtc_read_time(rtc, &tm);
+			if (err < 0)
+				return err;
+			rtc_tm_to_time(&tm, &now);
+
+			alarm.time.tm_mday = tm.tm_mday;
+			alarm.time.tm_mon = tm.tm_mon;
+			alarm.time.tm_year = tm.tm_year;
+			err  = rtc_valid_tm(&alarm.time);
+			if (err < 0)
+				return err;
+			rtc_tm_to_time(&alarm.time, &then);
+
+			/* alarm may need to wrap into tomorrow */
+			if (then < now) {
+				rtc_time_to_tm(now + 24 * 60 * 60, &tm);
+				alarm.time.tm_mday = tm.tm_mday;
+				alarm.time.tm_mon = tm.tm_mon;
+				alarm.time.tm_year = tm.tm_year;
+			}
+		}
+
 		err = rtc_set_alarm(rtc, &alarm);
 		break;
 
diff --git a/drivers/rtc/rtc-omap.c b/drivers/rtc/rtc-omap.c
index e6c7b0149f27..60a8a4bb8bd2 100644
--- a/drivers/rtc/rtc-omap.c
+++ b/drivers/rtc/rtc-omap.c
@@ -289,34 +289,6 @@ static int omap_rtc_set_alarm(struct device *dev, struct rtc_wkalrm *alm)
 {
 	u8 reg;
 
-	/* Much userspace code uses RTC_ALM_SET, thus "don't care" for
-	 * day/month/year specifies alarms up to 24 hours in the future.
-	 * So we need to handle that ... but let's ignore the "don't care"
-	 * values for hours/minutes/seconds.
-	 */
-	if (alm->time.tm_mday <= 0
-			&& alm->time.tm_mon < 0
-			&& alm->time.tm_year < 0) {
-		struct rtc_time tm;
-		unsigned long now, then;
-
-		omap_rtc_read_time(dev, &tm);
-		rtc_tm_to_time(&tm, &now);
-
-		alm->time.tm_mday = tm.tm_mday;
-		alm->time.tm_mon = tm.tm_mon;
-		alm->time.tm_year = tm.tm_year;
-		rtc_tm_to_time(&alm->time, &then);
-
-		/* sometimes the alarm wraps into tomorrow */
-		if (then < now) {
-			rtc_time_to_tm(now + 24 * 60 * 60, &tm);
-			alm->time.tm_mday = tm.tm_mday;
-			alm->time.tm_mon = tm.tm_mon;
-			alm->time.tm_year = tm.tm_year;
-		}
-	}
-
 	if (tm2bcd(&alm->time) < 0)
 		return -EINVAL;