diff --git a/drivers/watchdog/wdat_wdt.c b/drivers/watchdog/wdat_wdt.c
index e1b1fcfc02af..3065dd670a18 100644
--- a/drivers/watchdog/wdat_wdt.c
+++ b/drivers/watchdog/wdat_wdt.c
@@ -54,6 +54,13 @@ module_param(nowayout, bool, 0);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(nowayout, "Watchdog cannot be stopped once started (default="
 		 __MODULE_STRING(WATCHDOG_NOWAYOUT) ")");
 
+#define WDAT_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT	30
+
+static int timeout = WDAT_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT;
+module_param(timeout, int, 0);
+MODULE_PARM_DESC(timeout, "Watchdog timeout in seconds (default="
+		 __MODULE_STRING(WDAT_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT) ")");
+
 static int wdat_wdt_read(struct wdat_wdt *wdat,
 	 const struct wdat_instruction *instr, u32 *value)
 {
@@ -438,6 +445,22 @@ static int wdat_wdt_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 
 	platform_set_drvdata(pdev, wdat);
 
+	/*
+	 * Set initial timeout so that userspace has time to configure the
+	 * watchdog properly after it has opened the device. In some cases
+	 * the BIOS default is too short and causes immediate reboot.
+	 */
+	if (timeout * 1000 < wdat->wdd.min_hw_heartbeat_ms ||
+	    timeout * 1000 > wdat->wdd.max_hw_heartbeat_ms) {
+		dev_warn(dev, "Invalid timeout %d given, using %d\n",
+			 timeout, WDAT_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT);
+		timeout = WDAT_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT;
+	}
+
+	ret = wdat_wdt_set_timeout(&wdat->wdd, timeout);
+	if (ret)
+		return ret;
+
 	watchdog_set_nowayout(&wdat->wdd, nowayout);
 	return devm_watchdog_register_device(dev, &wdat->wdd);
 }