diff --git a/kernel/time/timer.c b/kernel/time/timer.c
index 8f5d1bf18854..dd7be9fe6839 100644
--- a/kernel/time/timer.c
+++ b/kernel/time/timer.c
@@ -203,6 +203,7 @@ struct timer_base {
 	bool			migration_enabled;
 	bool			nohz_active;
 	bool			is_idle;
+	bool			was_idle; /* was it idle since last run/fwded */
 	DECLARE_BITMAP(pending_map, WHEEL_SIZE);
 	struct hlist_head	vectors[WHEEL_SIZE];
 } ____cacheline_aligned;
@@ -856,13 +857,19 @@ get_target_base(struct timer_base *base, unsigned tflags)
 
 static inline void forward_timer_base(struct timer_base *base)
 {
-	unsigned long jnow = READ_ONCE(jiffies);
+	unsigned long jnow;
 
 	/*
-	 * We only forward the base when it's idle and we have a delta between
-	 * base clock and jiffies.
+	 * We only forward the base when we are idle or have just come out
+	 * of idle (was_idle logic), and have a delta between base clock
+	 * and jiffies. In the common case, run_timers will take care of it.
 	 */
-	if (!base->is_idle || (long) (jnow - base->clk) < 2)
+	if (likely(!base->was_idle))
+		return;
+
+	jnow = READ_ONCE(jiffies);
+	base->was_idle = base->is_idle;
+	if ((long)(jnow - base->clk) < 2)
 		return;
 
 	/*
@@ -938,6 +945,13 @@ __mod_timer(struct timer_list *timer, unsigned long expires, bool pending_only)
 	 * same array bucket then just return:
 	 */
 	if (timer_pending(timer)) {
+		/*
+		 * The downside of this optimization is that it can result in
+		 * larger granularity than you would get from adding a new
+		 * timer with this expiry. Would a timer flag for networking
+		 * be appropriate, then we can try to keep expiry of general
+		 * timers within ~1/8th of their interval?
+		 */
 		if (timer->expires == expires)
 			return 1;
 
@@ -948,6 +962,7 @@ __mod_timer(struct timer_list *timer, unsigned long expires, bool pending_only)
 		 * dequeue/enqueue dance.
 		 */
 		base = lock_timer_base(timer, &flags);
+		forward_timer_base(base);
 
 		clk = base->clk;
 		idx = calc_wheel_index(expires, clk);
@@ -964,6 +979,7 @@ __mod_timer(struct timer_list *timer, unsigned long expires, bool pending_only)
 		}
 	} else {
 		base = lock_timer_base(timer, &flags);
+		forward_timer_base(base);
 	}
 
 	ret = detach_if_pending(timer, base, false);
@@ -991,12 +1007,10 @@ __mod_timer(struct timer_list *timer, unsigned long expires, bool pending_only)
 			raw_spin_lock(&base->lock);
 			WRITE_ONCE(timer->flags,
 				   (timer->flags & ~TIMER_BASEMASK) | base->cpu);
+			forward_timer_base(base);
 		}
 	}
 
-	/* Try to forward a stale timer base clock */
-	forward_timer_base(base);
-
 	timer->expires = expires;
 	/*
 	 * If 'idx' was calculated above and the base time did not advance
@@ -1112,6 +1126,7 @@ void add_timer_on(struct timer_list *timer, int cpu)
 		WRITE_ONCE(timer->flags,
 			   (timer->flags & ~TIMER_BASEMASK) | cpu);
 	}
+	forward_timer_base(base);
 
 	debug_activate(timer, timer->expires);
 	internal_add_timer(base, timer);
@@ -1499,8 +1514,10 @@ u64 get_next_timer_interrupt(unsigned long basej, u64 basem)
 		/*
 		 * If we expect to sleep more than a tick, mark the base idle:
 		 */
-		if ((expires - basem) > TICK_NSEC)
+		if ((expires - basem) > TICK_NSEC) {
+			base->was_idle = true;
 			base->is_idle = true;
+		}
 	}
 	raw_spin_unlock(&base->lock);
 
@@ -1611,6 +1628,17 @@ static __latent_entropy void run_timer_softirq(struct softirq_action *h)
 {
 	struct timer_base *base = this_cpu_ptr(&timer_bases[BASE_STD]);
 
+	/*
+	 * was_idle must be cleared before running timers so that any timer
+	 * functions that call mod_timer will not try to forward the base.
+	 *
+	 * 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->was_idle = false;
+
 	__run_timers(base);
 	if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_NO_HZ_COMMON) && base->nohz_active)
 		__run_timers(this_cpu_ptr(&timer_bases[BASE_DEF]));