diff --git a/net/openvswitch/datapath.c b/net/openvswitch/datapath.c
index 631a03136fa1..218703414325 100644
--- a/net/openvswitch/datapath.c
+++ b/net/openvswitch/datapath.c
@@ -1921,6 +1921,10 @@ static int ovs_dp_cmd_new(struct sk_buff *skb, struct genl_info *info)
 
 	ovs_unlock();
 
+	/* Start periodic mask rebalancing if it wasn't already. */
+	schedule_delayed_work(&ovs_net->masks_rebalance,
+			      DP_MASKS_REBALANCE_INTERVAL);
+
 	ovs_notify(&dp_datapath_genl_family, reply, info);
 	return 0;
 
@@ -2598,16 +2602,20 @@ static void ovs_dp_masks_rebalance(struct work_struct *work)
 	struct ovs_net *ovs_net = container_of(work, struct ovs_net,
 					       masks_rebalance.work);
 	struct datapath *dp;
+	bool rearm;
 
 	ovs_lock();
 
 	list_for_each_entry(dp, &ovs_net->dps, list_node)
 		ovs_flow_masks_rebalance(&dp->table);
 
+	rearm = !list_empty(&ovs_net->dps);
+
 	ovs_unlock();
 
-	schedule_delayed_work(&ovs_net->masks_rebalance,
-			      msecs_to_jiffies(DP_MASKS_REBALANCE_INTERVAL));
+	if (rearm)
+		schedule_delayed_work(&ovs_net->masks_rebalance,
+				      DP_MASKS_REBALANCE_INTERVAL);
 }
 
 static const struct nla_policy vport_policy[OVS_VPORT_ATTR_MAX + 1] = {
@@ -2713,8 +2721,6 @@ static int __net_init ovs_init_net(struct net *net)
 	if (err)
 		return err;
 
-	schedule_delayed_work(&ovs_net->masks_rebalance,
-			      msecs_to_jiffies(DP_MASKS_REBALANCE_INTERVAL));
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/net/openvswitch/datapath.h b/net/openvswitch/datapath.h
index b2c2b8da12d4..7a7afaeceee5 100644
--- a/net/openvswitch/datapath.h
+++ b/net/openvswitch/datapath.h
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 
 #define DP_MAX_PORTS                USHRT_MAX
 #define DP_VPORT_HASH_BUCKETS       1024
-#define DP_MASKS_REBALANCE_INTERVAL 4000
+#define DP_MASKS_REBALANCE_INTERVAL msecs_to_jiffies(4000)
 
 /**
  * struct dp_stats_percpu - per-cpu packet processing statistics for a given