diff --git a/drivers/serial/8250.c b/drivers/serial/8250.c
index 342e12f..9ccc563 100644
--- a/drivers/serial/8250.c
+++ b/drivers/serial/8250.c
@@ -1908,15 +1908,23 @@
 		 * kick the UART on a regular basis.
 		 */
 		if (!(iir1 & UART_IIR_NO_INT) && (iir & UART_IIR_NO_INT)) {
+			up->bugs |= UART_BUG_THRE;
 			pr_debug("ttyS%d - using backup timer\n", port->line);
-			up->timer.function = serial8250_backup_timeout;
-			up->timer.data = (unsigned long)up;
-			mod_timer(&up->timer, jiffies +
-				poll_timeout(up->port.timeout) + HZ / 5);
 		}
 	}
 
 	/*
+	 * The above check will only give an accurate result the first time
+	 * the port is opened so this value needs to be preserved.
+	 */
+	if (up->bugs & UART_BUG_THRE) {
+		up->timer.function = serial8250_backup_timeout;
+		up->timer.data = (unsigned long)up;
+		mod_timer(&up->timer, jiffies +
+			  poll_timeout(up->port.timeout) + HZ / 5);
+	}
+
+	/*
 	 * If the "interrupt" for this port doesn't correspond with any
 	 * hardware interrupt, we use a timer-based system.  The original
 	 * driver used to do this with IRQ0.