diff --git a/src/core/manager.c b/src/core/manager.c
index 7d3602c71cd..2b8270f1465 100644
--- a/src/core/manager.c
+++ b/src/core/manager.c
@@ -2978,13 +2978,8 @@ int manager_loop(Manager *m) {
                 return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to enable SIGCHLD event source: %m");
 
         while (m->objective == MANAGER_OK) {
-                usec_t watchdog_usec;
 
-                watchdog_usec = manager_get_watchdog(m, WATCHDOG_RUNTIME);
-                if (m->runtime_watchdog_running)
-                        (void) watchdog_ping();
-                else if (timestamp_is_set(watchdog_usec))
-                        manager_retry_runtime_watchdog(m);
+                (void) watchdog_ping();
 
                 if (!ratelimit_below(&rl)) {
                         /* Yay, something is going seriously wrong, pause a little */
@@ -3198,7 +3193,6 @@ usec_t manager_get_watchdog(Manager *m, WatchdogType t) {
 }
 
 void manager_set_watchdog(Manager *m, WatchdogType t, usec_t timeout) {
-        int r = 0;
 
         assert(m);
 
@@ -3210,22 +3204,16 @@ void manager_set_watchdog(Manager *m, WatchdogType t, usec_t timeout) {
 
         if (t == WATCHDOG_RUNTIME)
                 if (!timestamp_is_set(m->watchdog_overridden[WATCHDOG_RUNTIME])) {
-                        if (timestamp_is_set(timeout)) {
-                                r = watchdog_set_timeout(&timeout);
-
-                                if (r >= 0)
-                                        m->runtime_watchdog_running = true;
-                        } else {
+                        if (timestamp_is_set(timeout))
+                                (void) watchdog_set_timeout(&timeout);
+                        else
                                 watchdog_close(true);
-                                m->runtime_watchdog_running = false;
-                        }
                 }
 
         m->watchdog[t] = timeout;
 }
 
 int manager_override_watchdog(Manager *m, WatchdogType t, usec_t timeout) {
-        int r = 0;
 
         assert(m);
 
@@ -3239,36 +3227,16 @@ int manager_override_watchdog(Manager *m, WatchdogType t, usec_t timeout) {
                 usec_t *p;
 
                 p = timestamp_is_set(timeout) ? &timeout : &m->watchdog[t];
-                if (timestamp_is_set(*p)) {
-                        r = watchdog_set_timeout(p);
-
-                        if (r >= 0)
-                                m->runtime_watchdog_running = true;
-                } else {
+                if (timestamp_is_set(*p))
+                        (void) watchdog_set_timeout(p);
+                else
                         watchdog_close(true);
-                        m->runtime_watchdog_running = false;
-                }
         }
 
         m->watchdog_overridden[t] = timeout;
-
         return 0;
 }
 
-void manager_retry_runtime_watchdog(Manager *m) {
-        int r = 0;
-
-        assert(m);
-
-        if (timestamp_is_set(m->watchdog_overridden[WATCHDOG_RUNTIME]))
-                r = watchdog_set_timeout(&m->watchdog_overridden[WATCHDOG_RUNTIME]);
-        else
-                r = watchdog_set_timeout(&m->watchdog[WATCHDOG_RUNTIME]);
-
-        if (r >= 0)
-                m->runtime_watchdog_running = true;
-}
-
 int manager_reload(Manager *m) {
         _cleanup_(manager_reloading_stopp) Manager *reloading = NULL;
         _cleanup_fdset_free_ FDSet *fds = NULL;
diff --git a/src/core/manager.h b/src/core/manager.h
index 1220c9fb161..4f1c6fec63c 100644
--- a/src/core/manager.h
+++ b/src/core/manager.h
@@ -248,8 +248,6 @@ struct Manager {
         usec_t watchdog[_WATCHDOG_TYPE_MAX];
         usec_t watchdog_overridden[_WATCHDOG_TYPE_MAX];
 
-        bool runtime_watchdog_running; /* Whether the runtime HW watchdog was started, so we know if we still need to get the real timeout from the hardware */
-
         dual_timestamp timestamps[_MANAGER_TIMESTAMP_MAX];
 
         /* Data specific to the device subsystem */
@@ -566,7 +564,6 @@ ManagerTimestamp manager_timestamp_initrd_mangle(ManagerTimestamp s);
 usec_t manager_get_watchdog(Manager *m, WatchdogType t);
 void manager_set_watchdog(Manager *m, WatchdogType t, usec_t timeout);
 int manager_override_watchdog(Manager *m, WatchdogType t, usec_t timeout);
-void manager_retry_runtime_watchdog(Manager *m);
 
 const char* oom_policy_to_string(OOMPolicy i) _const_;
 OOMPolicy oom_policy_from_string(const char *s) _pure_;