diff --git a/drivers/watchdog/msc313e_wdt.c b/drivers/watchdog/msc313e_wdt.c
index 9a400562d1ae..d62586f6e09d 100644
--- a/drivers/watchdog/msc313e_wdt.c
+++ b/drivers/watchdog/msc313e_wdt.c
@@ -46,6 +46,9 @@ static void msc313e_wdt_set_hw_timeout(struct msc313e_wdt_priv *priv,
 {
 	u32 t = timeout * clk_get_rate(priv->clk);
 
+	/* Clear before to prevent premature reset during non-atomic updates. */
+	writew(1, priv->base + REG_WDT_CLR);
+
 	writew(t & 0xffff, priv->base + REG_WDT_MAX_PRD_L);
 	writew((t >> 16) & 0xffff, priv->base + REG_WDT_MAX_PRD_H);
 	writew(1, priv->base + REG_WDT_CLR);
@@ -76,6 +79,9 @@ static int msc313e_wdt_stop(struct watchdog_device *wdev)
 {
 	struct msc313e_wdt_priv *priv = watchdog_get_drvdata(wdev);
 
+	/* Clear before to prevent premature reset during non-atomic updates. */
+	writew(1, priv->base + REG_WDT_CLR);
+
 	writew(0, priv->base + REG_WDT_MAX_PRD_L);
 	writew(0, priv->base + REG_WDT_MAX_PRD_H);
 	writew(0, priv->base + REG_WDT_CLR);