diff --git a/src/dhcp-manager/nm-dhcp-client.c b/src/dhcp-manager/nm-dhcp-client.c
index 862bde7a04..2c210becdb 100644
--- a/src/dhcp-manager/nm-dhcp-client.c
+++ b/src/dhcp-manager/nm-dhcp-client.c
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ nm_dhcp_client_set_state (NMDhcpClient *self,
 }
 
 static gboolean
-daemon_timeout (gpointer user_data)
+transaction_timeout (gpointer user_data)
 {
 	NMDhcpClient *self = NM_DHCP_CLIENT (user_data);
 	NMDhcpClientPrivate *priv = NM_DHCP_CLIENT_GET_PRIVATE (self);
@@ -392,6 +392,18 @@ daemon_watch_cb (GPid pid, gint status, gpointer user_data)
 	nm_dhcp_client_set_state (self, new_state, NULL, NULL);
 }
 
+void
+nm_dhcp_client_start_timeout (NMDhcpClient *self)
+{
+	NMDhcpClientPrivate *priv = NM_DHCP_CLIENT_GET_PRIVATE (self);
+
+	/* Set up a timeout on the transaction to kill it after the timeout */
+	g_assert (priv->timeout_id == 0);
+	priv->timeout_id = g_timeout_add_seconds (priv->timeout,
+	                                          transaction_timeout,
+	                                          self);
+}
+
 void
 nm_dhcp_client_watch_child (NMDhcpClient *self, pid_t pid)
 {
@@ -400,11 +412,8 @@ nm_dhcp_client_watch_child (NMDhcpClient *self, pid_t pid)
 	g_return_if_fail (priv->pid == -1);
 	priv->pid = pid;
 
-	/* Set up a timeout on the transaction to kill it after the timeout */
-	g_assert (priv->timeout_id == 0);
-	priv->timeout_id = g_timeout_add_seconds (priv->timeout,
-	                                          daemon_timeout,
-	                                          self);
+	nm_dhcp_client_start_timeout (self);
+
 	g_return_if_fail (priv->watch_id == 0);
 	priv->watch_id = g_child_watch_add (pid, daemon_watch_cb, self);
 }
diff --git a/src/dhcp-manager/nm-dhcp-client.h b/src/dhcp-manager/nm-dhcp-client.h
index 7e28391d16..1c78c5b124 100644
--- a/src/dhcp-manager/nm-dhcp-client.h
+++ b/src/dhcp-manager/nm-dhcp-client.h
@@ -154,6 +154,8 @@ void nm_dhcp_client_stop_existing (const char *pid_file, const char *binary_name
 
 void nm_dhcp_client_stop_pid (pid_t pid, const char *iface);
 
+void nm_dhcp_client_start_timeout (NMDhcpClient *self);
+
 void nm_dhcp_client_watch_child (NMDhcpClient *self, pid_t pid);
 
 void nm_dhcp_client_set_state (NMDhcpClient *self,
diff --git a/src/dhcp-manager/nm-dhcp-systemd.c b/src/dhcp-manager/nm-dhcp-systemd.c
index bafc7c9d3b..ca4027e8dd 100644
--- a/src/dhcp-manager/nm-dhcp-systemd.c
+++ b/src/dhcp-manager/nm-dhcp-systemd.c
@@ -51,7 +51,6 @@ typedef struct {
 	struct sd_dhcp6_client *client6;
 	char *lease_file;
 
-	guint timeout_id;
 	guint request_count;
 
 	gboolean privacy;
@@ -668,6 +667,8 @@ ip4_start (NMDhcpClient *client, const char *dhcp_anycast_addr, const char *last
 		goto error;
 	}
 
+	nm_dhcp_client_start_timeout (client);
+
 	success = TRUE;
 
 error: