diff --git a/drivers/rtc/interface.c b/drivers/rtc/interface.c
index 413ae05379156751df8773ad70821c6af2254cfe..cb2f0728fd70dc187bcc80be8fa7d21bd35fbe7c 100644
--- a/drivers/rtc/interface.c
+++ b/drivers/rtc/interface.c
@@ -228,6 +228,12 @@ int rtc_update_irq_enable(struct rtc_device *rtc, unsigned int enabled)
 	if (err)
 		return err;
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_RTC_INTF_DEV_UIE_EMUL
+	if (enabled == 0 && rtc->uie_irq_active) {
+		mutex_unlock(&rtc->ops_lock);
+		return rtc_dev_update_irq_enable_emul(rtc, 0);
+	}
+#endif
 	/* make sure we're changing state */
 	if (rtc->uie_rtctimer.enabled == enabled)
 		goto out;
@@ -247,6 +253,16 @@ int rtc_update_irq_enable(struct rtc_device *rtc, unsigned int enabled)
 
 out:
 	mutex_unlock(&rtc->ops_lock);
+#ifdef CONFIG_RTC_INTF_DEV_UIE_EMUL
+	/*
+	 * Enable emulation if the driver did not provide
+	 * the update_irq_enable function pointer or if returned
+	 * -EINVAL to signal that it has been configured without
+	 * interrupts or that are not available at the moment.
+	 */
+	if (err == -EINVAL)
+		err = rtc_dev_update_irq_enable_emul(rtc, enabled);
+#endif
 	return err;
 
 }
@@ -262,7 +278,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(rtc_update_irq_enable);
  *
  * Triggers the registered irq_task function callback.
  */
-static void rtc_handle_legacy_irq(struct rtc_device *rtc, int num, int mode)
+void rtc_handle_legacy_irq(struct rtc_device *rtc, int num, int mode)
 {
 	unsigned long flags;
 
diff --git a/drivers/rtc/rtc-dev.c b/drivers/rtc/rtc-dev.c
index dfa72c9c26874a0f740d93991228c5125a397ed8..d0e06edb14c5157890079b08c4dcfab65b0ec66c 100644
--- a/drivers/rtc/rtc-dev.c
+++ b/drivers/rtc/rtc-dev.c
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ static void rtc_uie_task(struct work_struct *work)
 	}
 	spin_unlock_irq(&rtc->irq_lock);
 	if (num)
-		rtc_update_irq(rtc, num, RTC_UF | RTC_IRQF);
+		rtc_handle_legacy_irq(rtc, num, RTC_UF);
 }
 static void rtc_uie_timer(unsigned long data)
 {
diff --git a/include/linux/rtc.h b/include/linux/rtc.h
index 80408e711bed2f39363d22f166d7b2b3c1b47ee3..89c3e5182991137e2a8d83c2bf06a61a2dd2e6cb 100644
--- a/include/linux/rtc.h
+++ b/include/linux/rtc.h
@@ -250,6 +250,7 @@ extern int rtc_alarm_irq_enable(struct rtc_device *rtc, unsigned int enabled);
 extern int rtc_dev_update_irq_enable_emul(struct rtc_device *rtc,
 						unsigned int enabled);
 
+void rtc_handle_legacy_irq(struct rtc_device *rtc, int num, int mode);
 void rtc_aie_update_irq(void *private);
 void rtc_uie_update_irq(void *private);
 enum hrtimer_restart rtc_pie_update_irq(struct hrtimer *timer);