diff --git a/src/core/manager.c b/src/core/manager.c
index 45f3464dd4..afccb48d7e 100644
--- a/src/core/manager.c
+++ b/src/core/manager.c
@@ -3352,14 +3352,14 @@ int manager_loop(Manager *m) {
 
         while (m->objective == MANAGER_OK) {
 
-                (void) watchdog_ping();
-
                 if (!ratelimit_below(&rl)) {
                         /* Yay, something is going seriously wrong, pause a little */
                         log_warning("Looping too fast. Throttling execution a little.");
                         sleep(1);
                 }
 
+                (void) watchdog_ping();
+
                 if (manager_dispatch_load_queue(m) > 0)
                         continue;