--- a/drivers/watchdog/bcm47xx_wdt.c
+++ b/drivers/watchdog/bcm47xx_wdt.c
@@ -30,13 +30,13 @@
 #define DRV_NAME		"bcm47xx_wdt"
 
 #define WDT_DEFAULT_TIME	30	/* seconds */
-#define WDT_MAX_TIME		255	/* seconds */
+#define WDT_SOFTTIMER_MAX	3600	/* seconds */
 
-static int wdt_time = WDT_DEFAULT_TIME;
+static int timeout = WDT_DEFAULT_TIME;
 static bool nowayout = WATCHDOG_NOWAYOUT;
 
-module_param(wdt_time, int, 0);
-MODULE_PARM_DESC(wdt_time, "Watchdog time in seconds. (default="
+module_param(timeout, int, 0);
+MODULE_PARM_DESC(timeout, "Watchdog time in seconds. (default="
 				__MODULE_STRING(WDT_DEFAULT_TIME) ")");
 
 module_param(nowayout, bool, 0);
@@ -95,9 +95,9 @@ static int bcm47xx_wdt_soft_stop(struct
 static int bcm47xx_wdt_soft_set_timeout(struct watchdog_device *wdd,
 					unsigned int new_time)
 {
-	if (new_time < 1 || new_time > WDT_MAX_TIME) {
+	if (new_time < 1 || new_time > WDT_SOFTTIMER_MAX) {
 		pr_warn("timeout value must be 1<=x<=%d, using %d\n",
-			WDT_MAX_TIME, new_time);
+			WDT_SOFTTIMER_MAX, new_time);
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ static int __devinit bcm47xx_wdt_probe(s
 		goto err_notifier;
 
 	pr_info("BCM47xx Watchdog Timer enabled (%d seconds%s)\n",
-		wdt_time, nowayout ? ", nowayout" : "");
+		timeout, nowayout ? ", nowayout" : "");
 	return 0;
 
 err_notifier: