diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/iavf/iavf_main.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/iavf/iavf_main.c
index a39f7f0d6ab0..1ae90f8f9941 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/iavf/iavf_main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/iavf/iavf_main.c
@@ -5020,8 +5020,6 @@ static int iavf_probe(struct pci_dev *pdev, const struct pci_device_id *ent)
 	INIT_WORK(&adapter->finish_config, iavf_finish_config);
 	INIT_DELAYED_WORK(&adapter->watchdog_task, iavf_watchdog_task);
 	INIT_DELAYED_WORK(&adapter->client_task, iavf_client_task);
-	queue_delayed_work(adapter->wq, &adapter->watchdog_task,
-			   msecs_to_jiffies(5 * (pdev->devfn & 0x07)));
 
 	/* Setup the wait queue for indicating transition to down status */
 	init_waitqueue_head(&adapter->down_waitqueue);
@@ -5032,6 +5030,9 @@ static int iavf_probe(struct pci_dev *pdev, const struct pci_device_id *ent)
 	/* Setup the wait queue for indicating virtchannel events */
 	init_waitqueue_head(&adapter->vc_waitqueue);
 
+	queue_delayed_work(adapter->wq, &adapter->watchdog_task,
+			   msecs_to_jiffies(5 * (pdev->devfn & 0x07)));
+	/* Initialization goes on in the work. Do not add more of it below. */
 	return 0;
 
 err_ioremap: