diff --git a/arch/arm/src/armv8-r/arm_timer.c b/arch/arm/src/armv8-r/arm_timer.c
index db79fbafa14..2dccc2b4aee 100644
--- a/arch/arm/src/armv8-r/arm_timer.c
+++ b/arch/arm/src/armv8-r/arm_timer.c
@@ -233,10 +233,10 @@ void up_timer_initialize(void)
   tmrinfo("%s: cp15 timer(s) running at %" PRIu64 ".%" PRIu64 "MHz\n",
           __func__, freq / 1000000, (freq / 10000) % 100);
 
-  up_alarm_set_lowerhalf(arm_oneshot_initialize());
-
   arm_timer_phy_set_absolute(UINT64_MAX);
 
+  up_alarm_set_lowerhalf(arm_oneshot_initialize());
+
   up_enable_irq(ARM_ARCH_TIMER_IRQ);
   arm_timer_phy_enable(true);
   arm_timer_phy_set_irq_mask(false);