diff --git a/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c b/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
index 597cf16ea4ba1..3a3d8b5c7ad59 100644
--- a/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
+++ b/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
@@ -1173,7 +1173,10 @@ int watchdog_set_last_hw_keepalive(struct watchdog_device *wdd,
 
 	wd_data->last_hw_keepalive = ktime_sub(now, ms_to_ktime(last_ping_ms));
 
-	return __watchdog_ping(wdd);
+	if (watchdog_hw_running(wdd) && handle_boot_enabled)
+		return __watchdog_ping(wdd);
+
+	return 0;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(watchdog_set_last_hw_keepalive);