diff --git a/lustre/ptlrpc/pinger.c b/lustre/ptlrpc/pinger.c
index d866933bbe87527bd999c22b8c146fc544683457..866e7eb649260a13a50ab42bb21242fda1f59c80 100644
--- a/lustre/ptlrpc/pinger.c
+++ b/lustre/ptlrpc/pinger.c
@@ -132,7 +132,8 @@ static void ptlrpc_pinger_process_import(struct obd_import *imp,
                 imp->imp_force_verify = 0;
         spin_unlock_irqrestore(&imp->imp_lock, flags);
 
-        if (imp->imp_next_ping - this_ping > obd_timeout * HZ) {
+        if ((imp->imp_next_ping - this_ping > 0) &&
+                        (imp->imp_next_ping - this_ping > obd_timeout * HZ)) {
                 CWARN("wrong ping time %lu (current %lu)\n",
                       imp->imp_next_ping, this_ping);
                 imp->imp_next_ping = ptlrpc_next_reconnect(imp);