diff --git a/kernel/rcu/tree.c b/kernel/rcu/tree.c
index 8ce77d9ac716c..85511590fc387 100644
--- a/kernel/rcu/tree.c
+++ b/kernel/rcu/tree.c
@@ -485,7 +485,7 @@ module_param(qhimark, long, 0444);
 module_param(qlowmark, long, 0444);
 module_param(qovld, long, 0444);
 
-static ulong jiffies_till_first_fqs = ULONG_MAX;
+static ulong jiffies_till_first_fqs = IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_RCU_STRICT_GRACE_PERIOD) ? 0 : ULONG_MAX;
 static ulong jiffies_till_next_fqs = ULONG_MAX;
 static bool rcu_kick_kthreads;
 static int rcu_divisor = 7;