diff --git a/kernel/time/timer.c b/kernel/time/timer.c
index baa528a24a73..fa49cd753dea 100644
--- a/kernel/time/timer.c
+++ b/kernel/time/timer.c
@@ -1657,6 +1657,22 @@ static inline void __run_timers(struct timer_base *base)
 
 	raw_spin_lock_irq(&base->lock);
 
+	/*
+	 * timer_base::must_forward_clk must be cleared before running
+	 * timers so that any timer functions that call mod_timer() will
+	 * not try to forward the base. Idle tracking / clock forwarding
+	 * logic is only used with BASE_STD timers.
+	 *
+	 * The must_forward_clk flag is cleared unconditionally also for
+	 * the deferrable base. The deferrable base is not affected by idle
+	 * tracking and never forwarded, so clearing the flag is a NOOP.
+	 *
+	 * The fact that the deferrable base is never forwarded can cause
+	 * large variations in granularity for deferrable timers, but they
+	 * can be deferred for long periods due to idle anyway.
+	 */
+	base->must_forward_clk = false;
+
 	while (time_after_eq(jiffies, base->clk)) {
 
 		levels = collect_expired_timers(base, heads);
@@ -1676,19 +1692,6 @@ static __latent_entropy void run_timer_softirq(struct softirq_action *h)
 {
 	struct timer_base *base = this_cpu_ptr(&timer_bases[BASE_STD]);
 
-	/*
-	 * must_forward_clk must be cleared before running timers so that any
-	 * timer functions that call mod_timer will not try to forward the
-	 * base. idle trcking / clock forwarding logic is only used with
-	 * BASE_STD timers.
-	 *
-	 * The deferrable base does not do idle tracking at all, so we do
-	 * not forward it. This can result in very large variations in
-	 * granularity for deferrable timers, but they can be deferred for
-	 * long periods due to idle.
-	 */
-	base->must_forward_clk = false;
-
 	__run_timers(base);
 	if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_NO_HZ_COMMON))
 		__run_timers(this_cpu_ptr(&timer_bases[BASE_DEF]));