diff --git a/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c b/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
index 32930a073a12..977fe74e5abe 100644
--- a/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
+++ b/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
@@ -760,6 +760,7 @@ static int watchdog_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *file)
 {
 	struct watchdog_core_data *wd_data;
 	struct watchdog_device *wdd;
+	bool hw_running;
 	int err;
 
 	/* Get the corresponding watchdog device */
@@ -779,7 +780,8 @@ static int watchdog_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *file)
 	 * If the /dev/watchdog device is open, we don't want the module
 	 * to be unloaded.
 	 */
-	if (!watchdog_hw_running(wdd) && !try_module_get(wdd->ops->owner)) {
+	hw_running = watchdog_hw_running(wdd);
+	if (!hw_running && !try_module_get(wdd->ops->owner)) {
 		err = -EBUSY;
 		goto out_clear;
 	}
@@ -790,7 +792,7 @@ static int watchdog_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *file)
 
 	file->private_data = wd_data;
 
-	if (!watchdog_hw_running(wdd))
+	if (!hw_running)
 		kref_get(&wd_data->kref);
 
 	/* dev/watchdog is a virtual (and thus non-seekable) filesystem */