diff --git a/include/haproxy/clock.h b/include/haproxy/clock.h
index 77fd7ec78..2cee76da4 100644
--- a/include/haproxy/clock.h
+++ b/include/haproxy/clock.h
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ void clock_set_local_source(void);
 void clock_update_date(int max_wait, int interrupted);
 void clock_init_process_date(void);
 void clock_init_thread_date(void);
+int clock_setup_signal_timer(void *timer, int sig, int val);
 char *timeofday_as_iso_us(int pad);
 uint clock_report_idle(void);
 void clock_leaving_poll(int timeout, int interrupted);
diff --git a/src/clock.c b/src/clock.c
index 5a3447f2b..517f0a3a5 100644
--- a/src/clock.c
+++ b/src/clock.c
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
  */
 
 #include <sys/time.h>
+#include <signal.h>
 #include <time.h>
 
 #ifdef USE_THREAD
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@
 #include <haproxy/api.h>
 #include <haproxy/activity.h>
 #include <haproxy/clock.h>
+#include <haproxy/signal-t.h>
 #include <haproxy/time.h>
 #include <haproxy/tinfo-t.h>
 #include <haproxy/tools.h>
@@ -45,7 +47,7 @@ static THREAD_LOCAL char         iso_time_str[34]; /* ISO time representation of
 uint64_t now_mono_time(void)
 {
 	uint64_t ret = 0;
-#if defined(_POSIX_TIMERS) && (_POSIX_TIMERS > 0) && defined(_POSIX_MONOTONIC_CLOCK)
+#if defined(_POSIX_TIMERS) && defined(_POSIX_TIMERS) && (_POSIX_TIMERS > 0) && defined(_POSIX_MONOTONIC_CLOCK)
 	struct timespec ts;
 	clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &ts);
 	ret = ts.tv_sec * 1000000000ULL + ts.tv_nsec;
@@ -89,6 +91,37 @@ void clock_set_local_source(void)
 #endif
 }
 
+/* registers a timer <tmr> of type timer_t delivering signal <sig> with value
+ * <val>. It tries on the current thread's clock ID first and falls back to
+ * CLOCK_REALTIME. Returns non-zero on success, 1 on failure.
+ */
+int clock_setup_signal_timer(void *tmr, int sig, int val)
+{
+	int ret = 0;
+
+#if defined(USE_RT) && (_POSIX_TIMERS > 0) && defined(_POSIX_THREAD_CPUTIME)
+	struct sigevent sev = { };
+	timer_t *timer = tmr;
+	sigset_t set;
+
+	/* unblock the WDTSIG signal we intend to use */
+	sigemptyset(&set);
+	sigaddset(&set, WDTSIG);
+	ha_sigmask(SIG_UNBLOCK, &set, NULL);
+
+	/* this timer will signal WDTSIG when it fires, with tid in the si_int
+	 * field (important since any thread will receive the signal).
+	 */
+	sev.sigev_notify          = SIGEV_SIGNAL;
+	sev.sigev_signo           = sig;
+	sev.sigev_value.sival_int = val;
+	if (timer_create(ti->clock_id, &sev, timer) != -1 ||
+	    timer_create(CLOCK_REALTIME, &sev, timer) != -1)
+		ret = 1;
+#endif
+	return ret;
+}
+
 /* clock_update_date: sets <date> to system time, and sets <now> to something as
  * close as possible to real time, following a monotonic function. The main
  * principle consists in detecting backwards and forwards time jumps and adjust
diff --git a/src/wdt.c b/src/wdt.c
index 066f109ab..a893b5d89 100644
--- a/src/wdt.c
+++ b/src/wdt.c
@@ -127,22 +127,7 @@ void wdt_handler(int sig, siginfo_t *si, void *arg)
 
 int init_wdt_per_thread()
 {
-	struct sigevent sev = { };
-	sigset_t set;
-
-	/* unblock the WDTSIG signal we intend to use */
-	sigemptyset(&set);
-	sigaddset(&set, WDTSIG);
-	ha_sigmask(SIG_UNBLOCK, &set, NULL);
-
-	/* this timer will signal WDTSIG when it fires, with tid in the si_int
-	 * field (important since any thread will receive the signal).
-	 */
-	sev.sigev_notify          = SIGEV_SIGNAL;
-	sev.sigev_signo           = WDTSIG;
-	sev.sigev_value.sival_int = tid;
-	if (timer_create(ti->clock_id, &sev, &ti->wd_timer) == -1 &&
-	    timer_create(CLOCK_REALTIME, &sev, &ti->wd_timer) == -1)
+	if (!clock_setup_signal_timer(&ti->wd_timer, WDTSIG, tid))
 		goto fail1;
 
 	if (!wdt_ping(tid))