diff --git a/drivers/rtc/class.c b/drivers/rtc/class.c
index 9583cbcc6b79..c404b61386bf 100644
--- a/drivers/rtc/class.c
+++ b/drivers/rtc/class.c
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@ struct rtc_device *rtc_device_register(const char *name, struct device *dev,
 	rtc->id = id;
 	rtc->ops = ops;
 	rtc->owner = owner;
+	rtc->irq_freq = 1;
 	rtc->max_user_freq = 64;
 	rtc->dev.parent = dev;
 	rtc->dev.class = rtc_class;
diff --git a/drivers/rtc/interface.c b/drivers/rtc/interface.c
index 925006d33109..a0c01967244d 100644
--- a/drivers/rtc/interface.c
+++ b/drivers/rtc/interface.c
@@ -464,6 +464,9 @@ int rtc_irq_set_freq(struct rtc_device *rtc, struct rtc_task *task, int freq)
 	int err = 0;
 	unsigned long flags;
 
+	if (freq <= 0)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
 	spin_lock_irqsave(&rtc->irq_task_lock, flags);
 	if (rtc->irq_task != NULL && task == NULL)
 		err = -EBUSY;