diff --git a/include/linux/netdevice.h b/include/linux/netdevice.h
index 74507c006490f180d2fac6594f6dcf2c86d53919..d0aba8dd46425b242a04b506299c4c66e99d94b4 100644
--- a/include/linux/netdevice.h
+++ b/include/linux/netdevice.h
@@ -4498,7 +4498,12 @@ static inline void netdev_tracker_free(struct net_device *dev,
                                       netdevice_tracker *tracker)
 {
 #ifdef CONFIG_NET_DEV_REFCNT_TRACKER
-       ref_tracker_free(&dev->refcnt_tracker, tracker);
+       if (!tracker) {
+               ref_tracker_free(&dev->refcnt_tracker, NULL);
+       } else if (!IS_ERR(*tracker)) {
+               ref_tracker_free(&dev->refcnt_tracker, tracker);
+               *tracker = ERR_PTR(-EEXIST);
+       }
 #endif
 }
 
diff --git a/net/sched/sch_generic.c b/net/sched/sch_generic.c
index 237ee1cd013673816b651e4686fed7a7b921ca26..9ca9fafe087872cc7f89e83fb0acb2fd0a795cd9 100644
--- a/net/sched/sch_generic.c
+++ b/net/sched/sch_generic.c
@@ -568,16 +568,18 @@ static void dev_watchdog(struct timer_list *t)
                                dev->netdev_ops->ndo_tx_timeout(dev, i);
                                netif_unfreeze_queues(dev);
                        }
-                       if (!mod_timer(&dev->watchdog_timer,
-                                      round_jiffies(oldest_start +
-                                                    dev->watchdog_timeo)))
-                               release = false;
+                       mod_timer(&dev->watchdog_timer,
+                                 round_jiffies(oldest_start +
+                                               dev->watchdog_timeo));
+                       release = false;
                }
        }
-       spin_unlock(&dev->tx_global_lock);
-
+       if (timer_pending(&dev->watchdog_timer))
+               release = false;
        if (release)
                netdev_put(dev, &dev->watchdog_dev_tracker);
+
+       spin_unlock(&dev->tx_global_lock);
 }
 
 void netdev_watchdog_up(struct net_device *dev)
@@ -586,10 +588,14 @@ void netdev_watchdog_up(struct net_device *dev)
                return;
        if (dev->watchdog_timeo <= 0)
                dev->watchdog_timeo = 5*HZ;
+       spin_lock_bh(&dev->tx_global_lock);
        if (!mod_timer(&dev->watchdog_timer,
-                      round_jiffies(jiffies + dev->watchdog_timeo)))
-               netdev_hold(dev, &dev->watchdog_dev_tracker,
-                           GFP_ATOMIC);
+                      round_jiffies(jiffies + dev->watchdog_timeo))) {
+               if (!dev->watchdog_dev_tracker)
+                       netdev_hold(dev, &dev->watchdog_dev_tracker,
+                                   GFP_ATOMIC);
+       }
+       spin_unlock_bh(&dev->tx_global_lock);
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(netdev_watchdog_up);
 
@@ -617,8 +623,6 @@ void netif_carrier_on(struct net_device *dev)
                        return;
                atomic_inc(&dev->carrier_up_count);
                linkwatch_fire_event(dev);
-               if (netif_running(dev))
-                       netdev_watchdog_up(dev);
        }
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(netif_carrier_on);