diff --git a/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c b/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
index 2fb4cec..9f5550e 100644
--- a/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
+++ b/drivers/watchdog/watchdog_dev.c
@@ -54,14 +54,64 @@
  *	If the watchdog has no own ping operation then it needs to be
  *	restarted via the start operation. This wrapper function does
  *	exactly that.
+ *	We only ping when the watchdog device is running.
  */
 
 static int watchdog_ping(struct watchdog_device *wddev)
 {
-	if (wddev->ops->ping)
-		return wddev->ops->ping(wddev);  /* ping the watchdog */
-	else
-		return wddev->ops->start(wddev); /* restart the watchdog */
+	if (test_bit(WDOG_ACTIVE, &wdd->status)) {
+		if (wddev->ops->ping)
+			return wddev->ops->ping(wddev);  /* ping the watchdog */
+		else
+			return wddev->ops->start(wddev); /* restart watchdog */
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+/*
+ *	watchdog_start: wrapper to start the watchdog.
+ *	@wddev: the watchdog device to start
+ *
+ *	Start the watchdog if it is not active and mark it active.
+ *	This function returns zero on success or a negative errno code for
+ *	failure.
+ */
+
+static int watchdog_start(struct watchdog_device *wddev)
+{
+	int err;
+
+	if (!test_bit(WDOG_ACTIVE, &wdd->status)) {
+		err = wddev->ops->start(wddev);
+		if (err < 0)
+			return err;
+
+		set_bit(WDOG_ACTIVE, &wdd->status);
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+/*
+ *	watchdog_stop: wrapper to stop the watchdog.
+ *	@wddev: the watchdog device to stop
+ *
+ *	Stop the watchdog if it is still active and unmark it active.
+ *	This function returns zero on success or a negative errno code for
+ *	failure.
+ */
+
+static int watchdog_stop(struct watchdog_device *wddev)
+{
+	int err;
+
+	if (test_bit(WDOG_ACTIVE, &wdd->status)) {
+		err = wddev->ops->stop(wddev);
+		if (err < 0)
+			return err;
+
+		clear_bit(WDOG_ACTIVE, &wdd->status);
+	}
+	return 0;
 }
 
 /*
@@ -110,6 +160,7 @@
 	void __user *argp = (void __user *)arg;
 	int __user *p = argp;
 	unsigned int val;
+	int err;
 
 	switch (cmd) {
 	case WDIOC_GETSUPPORT:
@@ -120,6 +171,20 @@
 		return put_user(val, p);
 	case WDIOC_GETBOOTSTATUS:
 		return put_user(wdd->bootstatus, p);
+	case WDIOC_SETOPTIONS:
+		if (get_user(val, p))
+			return -EFAULT;
+		if (val & WDIOS_DISABLECARD) {
+			err = watchdog_stop(wdd);
+			if (err < 0)
+				return err;
+		}
+		if (val & WDIOS_ENABLECARD) {
+			err = watchdog_start(wdd);
+			if (err < 0)
+				return err;
+		}
+		return 0;
 	case WDIOC_KEEPALIVE:
 		if (!(wdd->info->options & WDIOF_KEEPALIVEPING))
 			return -EOPNOTSUPP;
@@ -155,7 +220,7 @@
 	if (!try_module_get(wdd->ops->owner))
 		goto out;
 
-	err = wdd->ops->start(wdd);
+	err = watchdog_start(wdd);
 	if (err < 0)
 		goto out_mod;
 
@@ -181,8 +246,8 @@
 {
 	int err;
 
-	err = wdd->ops->stop(wdd);
-	if (err != 0) {
+	err = watchdog_stop(wdd);
+	if (err < 0) {
 		pr_crit("%s: watchdog did not stop!\n", wdd->info->identity);
 		watchdog_ping(wdd);
 	}