diff --git a/src/watchdog.c b/src/watchdog.c
index 756013c0..e7f070e7 100644
--- a/src/watchdog.c
+++ b/src/watchdog.c
@@ -56,13 +56,13 @@ static int init(char *progname, char *devnode, int timeout)
 	return fd;
 }
 
-static int loop(int fd)
+static int loop(int fd, int period)
 {
 	int dummy = 0;
 
 	while (running) {
-		do_sleep(1);
 		ioctl(fd, WDIOC_KEEPALIVE, &dummy);
+		sleep(period);
 	}
 
 	if (handover) {
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ int watchdog(char *progname)
 			_exit(1);
 		}
 
-		ret = loop(fd);
+		ret = loop(fd, WDT_TIMEOUT / 2);
 		close(fd);
 
 		_exit(ret);
diff --git a/src/watchdog.h b/src/watchdog.h
index 3baaca5c..61bf932b 100644
--- a/src/watchdog.h
+++ b/src/watchdog.h
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 #include "config.h"		/* Generated by configure script */
 
 #define WDT_DEVNODE "/dev/watchdog"
-#define WDT_TIMEOUT 3
+#define WDT_TIMEOUT 30
 
 #ifdef BUILTIN_WATCHDOG
 int     watchdog(char *progname);