diff --git a/arch/um/include/kern_util.h b/arch/um/include/kern_util.h
index 310980b..7a64190 100644
--- a/arch/um/include/kern_util.h
+++ b/arch/um/include/kern_util.h
@@ -75,7 +75,6 @@
 extern void uml_idle_timer(void);
 extern unsigned int do_IRQ(int irq, union uml_pt_regs *regs);
 extern int external_pid(void *t);
-extern void boot_timer_handler(int sig);
 extern void interrupt_end(void);
 extern void initial_thread_cb(void (*proc)(void *), void *arg);
 extern int debugger_signal(int status, int pid);
diff --git a/arch/um/kernel/time_kern.c b/arch/um/kernel/time_kern.c
index d7e044b..8e56c58 100644
--- a/arch/um/kernel/time_kern.c
+++ b/arch/um/kernel/time_kern.c
@@ -84,29 +84,6 @@
 	}
 }
 
-
-void time_init_kern(void)
-{
-	long long nsecs;
-
-	nsecs = os_nsecs();
-	set_normalized_timespec(&wall_to_monotonic, -nsecs / BILLION,
-				-nsecs % BILLION);
-}
-
-void do_boot_timer_handler(struct sigcontext * sc)
-{
-	unsigned long flags;
-	struct pt_regs regs;
-
-	CHOOSE_MODE((void) (UPT_SC(&regs.regs) = sc),
-		    (void) (regs.regs.skas.is_user = 0));
-
-	write_seqlock_irqsave(&xtime_lock, flags);
-	do_timer(&regs);
-	write_sequnlock_irqrestore(&xtime_lock, flags);
-}
-
 static DEFINE_SPINLOCK(timer_spinlock);
 
 static unsigned long long local_offset = 0;
@@ -142,6 +119,32 @@
 	return IRQ_HANDLED;
 }
 
+static void register_timer(void)
+{
+	int err;
+
+	err = request_irq(TIMER_IRQ, um_timer, IRQF_DISABLED, "timer", NULL);
+	if(err != 0)
+		printk(KERN_ERR "timer_init : request_irq failed - "
+		       "errno = %d\n", -err);
+
+	timer_irq_inited = 1;
+
+	user_time_init();
+}
+
+extern void (*late_time_init)(void);
+
+void time_init(void)
+{
+	long long nsecs;
+
+	nsecs = os_nsecs();
+	set_normalized_timespec(&wall_to_monotonic, -nsecs / BILLION,
+				-nsecs % BILLION);
+	late_time_init = register_timer;
+}
+
 void do_gettimeofday(struct timeval *tv)
 {
 	unsigned long long nsecs = get_time();
@@ -189,18 +192,3 @@
 	if(current_thread->cpu == 0)
 		timer_irq(regs);
 }
-
-int __init timer_init(void)
-{
-	int err;
-
-	user_time_init();
-	err = request_irq(TIMER_IRQ, um_timer, IRQF_DISABLED, "timer", NULL);
-	if(err != 0)
-		printk(KERN_ERR "timer_init : request_irq failed - "
-		       "errno = %d\n", -err);
-	timer_irq_inited = 1;
-	return(0);
-}
-
-arch_initcall(timer_init);
diff --git a/arch/um/os-Linux/irq.c b/arch/um/os-Linux/irq.c
index 3788d45..64c114b 100644
--- a/arch/um/os-Linux/irq.c
+++ b/arch/um/os-Linux/irq.c
@@ -142,17 +142,14 @@
 
 void init_irq_signals(int on_sigstack)
 {
-	__sighandler_t h;
 	int flags;
 
 	flags = on_sigstack ? SA_ONSTACK : 0;
-	if (timer_irq_inited)
-		h = (__sighandler_t)alarm_handler;
-	else
-		h = boot_timer_handler;
 
-	set_handler(SIGVTALRM, h, flags | SA_RESTART,
-		    SIGUSR1, SIGIO, SIGWINCH, SIGALRM, -1);
+	set_handler(SIGVTALRM, (__sighandler_t) alarm_handler,
+		    flags | SA_RESTART, SIGUSR1, SIGIO, SIGWINCH, SIGALRM, -1);
+	set_handler(SIGALRM, (__sighandler_t) alarm_handler,
+		    flags | SA_RESTART, SIGUSR1, SIGIO, SIGWINCH, SIGALRM, -1);
 	set_handler(SIGIO, (__sighandler_t) sig_handler, flags | SA_RESTART,
 		    SIGUSR1, SIGIO, SIGWINCH, SIGALRM, SIGVTALRM, -1);
 	signal(SIGWINCH, SIG_IGN);
diff --git a/arch/um/os-Linux/signal.c b/arch/um/os-Linux/signal.c
index f11b312..60e4fae 100644
--- a/arch/um/os-Linux/signal.c
+++ b/arch/um/os-Linux/signal.c
@@ -106,29 +106,6 @@
 	set_signals(enabled);
 }
 
-extern void do_boot_timer_handler(struct sigcontext * sc);
-
-void boot_timer_handler(ARCH_SIGHDLR_PARAM)
-{
-	struct sigcontext *sc;
-	int enabled;
-
-	ARCH_GET_SIGCONTEXT(sc, sig);
-
-	enabled = signals_enabled;
-	if(!enabled){
-		if(sig == SIGVTALRM)
-			pending |= SIGVTALRM_MASK;
-		else pending |= SIGALRM_MASK;
-		return;
-	}
-
-	block_signals();
-
-	do_boot_timer_handler(sc);
-	set_signals(enabled);
-}
-
 void set_sigstack(void *sig_stack, int size)
 {
 	stack_t stack = ((stack_t) { .ss_flags	= 0,
diff --git a/arch/um/os-Linux/time.c b/arch/um/os-Linux/time.c
index 280c4fb..beb7f96 100644
--- a/arch/um/os-Linux/time.c
+++ b/arch/um/os-Linux/time.c
@@ -81,14 +81,6 @@
 	set_interval(ITIMER_REAL);
 }
 
-void time_init(void)
-{
-	if(signal(SIGVTALRM, boot_timer_handler) == SIG_ERR)
-		panic("Couldn't set SIGVTALRM handler");
-	set_interval(ITIMER_VIRTUAL);
-	time_init_kern();
-}
-
 unsigned long long os_nsecs(void)
 {
 	struct timeval tv;
@@ -106,15 +98,7 @@
 	nanosleep(&ts, NULL);
 }
 
-/* XXX This partly duplicates init_irq_signals */
-
 void user_time_init(void)
 {
-	set_handler(SIGVTALRM, (__sighandler_t) alarm_handler,
-		    SA_ONSTACK | SA_RESTART, SIGUSR1, SIGIO, SIGWINCH,
-		    SIGALRM, SIGUSR2, -1);
-	set_handler(SIGALRM, (__sighandler_t) alarm_handler,
-		    SA_ONSTACK | SA_RESTART, SIGUSR1, SIGIO, SIGWINCH,
-		    SIGVTALRM, SIGUSR2, -1);
 	set_interval(ITIMER_VIRTUAL);
 }