diff --git a/arch/arm/kernel/smp.c b/arch/arm/kernel/smp.c
index 577543f3857f..a01194e583ff 100644
--- a/arch/arm/kernel/smp.c
+++ b/arch/arm/kernel/smp.c
@@ -86,6 +86,12 @@ int __cpuinit __cpu_up(unsigned int cpu)
 			return PTR_ERR(idle);
 		}
 		ci->idle = idle;
+	} else {
+		/*
+		 * Since this idle thread is being re-used, call
+		 * init_idle() to reinitialize the thread structure.
+		 */
+		init_idle(idle, cpu);
 	}
 
 	/*