diff --git a/drivers/watchdog/msc313e_wdt.c b/drivers/watchdog/msc313e_wdt.c
index 0d497aa0fb7d..90171431fc59 100644
--- a/drivers/watchdog/msc313e_wdt.c
+++ b/drivers/watchdog/msc313e_wdt.c
@@ -120,6 +120,10 @@ static int msc313e_wdt_probe(struct platform_device *pdev)
 	priv->wdev.max_timeout = U32_MAX / clk_get_rate(priv->clk);
 	priv->wdev.timeout = MSC313E_WDT_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT;
 
+	/* If the period is non-zero the WDT is running */
+	if (readw(priv->base + REG_WDT_MAX_PRD_L) | (readw(priv->base + REG_WDT_MAX_PRD_H) << 16))
+		set_bit(WDOG_HW_RUNNING, &priv->wdev.status);
+
 	watchdog_set_drvdata(&priv->wdev, priv);
 
 	watchdog_init_timeout(&priv->wdev, timeout, dev);