diff --git a/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c b/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
index 334b810db2cf..edfb884044e0 100644
--- a/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
+++ b/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
@@ -133,14 +133,15 @@ static ktime_t watchdog_next_keepalive(struct watchdog_device *wdd)
 	ktime_t virt_timeout;
 	unsigned int hw_heartbeat_ms;
 
-	virt_timeout = ktime_add(wd_data->last_keepalive,
-				 ms_to_ktime(timeout_ms));
+	if (watchdog_active(wdd))
+		virt_timeout = ktime_add(wd_data->last_keepalive,
+					 ms_to_ktime(timeout_ms));
+	else
+		virt_timeout = wd_data->open_deadline;
+
 	hw_heartbeat_ms = min_not_zero(timeout_ms, wdd->max_hw_heartbeat_ms);
 	keepalive_interval = ms_to_ktime(hw_heartbeat_ms / 2);
 
-	if (!watchdog_active(wdd))
-		return keepalive_interval;
-
 	/*
 	 * To ensure that the watchdog times out wdd->timeout seconds
 	 * after the most recent ping from userspace, the last