diff --git a/drivers/watchdog/imx_watchdog.c b/drivers/watchdog/imx_watchdog.c
index 1d18d4b269f8af94e4f8cae77bdc9a39b5524f8e..9a77a54192be10211da9ebb716f89019290263fc 100644
--- a/drivers/watchdog/imx_watchdog.c
+++ b/drivers/watchdog/imx_watchdog.c
@@ -55,7 +55,8 @@ void reset_cpu(ulong addr)
 {
 	struct watchdog_regs *wdog = (struct watchdog_regs *)WDOG1_BASE_ADDR;
 
-	writew(WCR_WDE, &wdog->wcr);
+	clrsetbits_le16(&wdog->wcr, 0, WCR_WDE);
+
 	writew(0x5555, &wdog->wsr);
 	writew(0xaaaa, &wdog->wsr);	/* load minimum 1/2 second timeout */
 	while (1) {