diff --git a/meta-ibm/recipes-phosphor/fans/fan-watchdog/fan-watchdog.service b/meta-ibm/recipes-phosphor/fans/fan-watchdog/fan-watchdog.service
index 3f94183..16a5ae4 100644
--- a/meta-ibm/recipes-phosphor/fans/fan-watchdog/fan-watchdog.service
+++ b/meta-ibm/recipes-phosphor/fans/fan-watchdog/fan-watchdog.service
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 [Service]
 EnvironmentFile={envfiledir}/obmc/fan-watchdog/fan-watchdog.conf
+ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c "echo V > ${{DEVICE}}"
 ExecStart=/sbin/watchdog -T ${{TIMEOUT}} -t ${{INTERVAL}} -F ${{DEVICE}}
 KillSignal=SIGKILL