diff --git a/kernel/watchdog.c b/kernel/watchdog.c
index 5b62d1002783..25d134306e14 100644
--- a/kernel/watchdog.c
+++ b/kernel/watchdog.c
@@ -521,7 +521,7 @@ static bool need_counting_irqs(void)
 	u8 util;
 	int tail = __this_cpu_read(cpustat_tail);
 
-	tail = (tail + NUM_HARDIRQ_REPORT - 1) % NUM_HARDIRQ_REPORT;
+	tail = (tail + NUM_SAMPLE_PERIODS - 1) % NUM_SAMPLE_PERIODS;
 	util = __this_cpu_read(cpustat_util[tail][STATS_HARDIRQ]);
 	return util > HARDIRQ_PERCENT_THRESH;
 }