diff --git a/drivers/md/md-bitmap.c b/drivers/md/md-bitmap.c
index 4b5ba81c53be..23522df41ca5 100644
--- a/drivers/md/md-bitmap.c
+++ b/drivers/md/md-bitmap.c
@@ -1234,11 +1234,22 @@ static bitmap_counter_t *md_bitmap_get_counter(struct bitmap_counts *bitmap,
 					       sector_t offset, sector_t *blocks,
 					       int create);
 
+static void mddev_set_timeout(struct mddev *mddev, unsigned long timeout,
+			      bool force)
+{
+	struct md_thread *thread = mddev->thread;
+
+	if (!thread)
+		return;
+
+	if (force || thread->timeout < MAX_SCHEDULE_TIMEOUT)
+		thread->timeout = timeout;
+}
+
 /*
  * bitmap daemon -- periodically wakes up to clean bits and flush pages
  *			out to disk
  */
-
 void md_bitmap_daemon_work(struct mddev *mddev)
 {
 	struct bitmap *bitmap;
@@ -1262,7 +1273,7 @@ void md_bitmap_daemon_work(struct mddev *mddev)
 
 	bitmap->daemon_lastrun = jiffies;
 	if (bitmap->allclean) {
-		mddev->thread->timeout = MAX_SCHEDULE_TIMEOUT;
+		mddev_set_timeout(mddev, MAX_SCHEDULE_TIMEOUT, true);
 		goto done;
 	}
 	bitmap->allclean = 1;
@@ -1359,8 +1370,7 @@ void md_bitmap_daemon_work(struct mddev *mddev)
 
  done:
 	if (bitmap->allclean == 0)
-		mddev->thread->timeout =
-			mddev->bitmap_info.daemon_sleep;
+		mddev_set_timeout(mddev, mddev->bitmap_info.daemon_sleep, true);
 	mutex_unlock(&mddev->bitmap_info.mutex);
 }
 
@@ -1821,8 +1831,7 @@ void md_bitmap_destroy(struct mddev *mddev)
 	mddev->bitmap = NULL; /* disconnect from the md device */
 	spin_unlock(&mddev->lock);
 	mutex_unlock(&mddev->bitmap_info.mutex);
-	if (mddev->thread)
-		mddev->thread->timeout = MAX_SCHEDULE_TIMEOUT;
+	mddev_set_timeout(mddev, MAX_SCHEDULE_TIMEOUT, true);
 
 	md_bitmap_free(bitmap);
 }
@@ -1965,7 +1974,7 @@ int md_bitmap_load(struct mddev *mddev)
 	/* Kick recovery in case any bits were set */
 	set_bit(MD_RECOVERY_NEEDED, &bitmap->mddev->recovery);
 
-	mddev->thread->timeout = mddev->bitmap_info.daemon_sleep;
+	mddev_set_timeout(mddev, mddev->bitmap_info.daemon_sleep, true);
 	md_wakeup_thread(mddev->thread);
 
 	md_bitmap_update_sb(bitmap);
@@ -2470,17 +2479,11 @@ timeout_store(struct mddev *mddev, const char *buf, size_t len)
 		timeout = MAX_SCHEDULE_TIMEOUT-1;
 	if (timeout < 1)
 		timeout = 1;
-	mddev->bitmap_info.daemon_sleep = timeout;
-	if (mddev->thread) {
-		/* if thread->timeout is MAX_SCHEDULE_TIMEOUT, then
-		 * the bitmap is all clean and we don't need to
-		 * adjust the timeout right now
-		 */
-		if (mddev->thread->timeout < MAX_SCHEDULE_TIMEOUT)
-			mddev->thread->timeout = timeout;
-	}
 
+	mddev->bitmap_info.daemon_sleep = timeout;
+	mddev_set_timeout(mddev, timeout, false);
 	md_wakeup_thread(mddev->thread);
+
 	return len;
 }