diff --git a/pkg/reboot/calculator.go b/pkg/reboot/calculator.go
index 61890ed1..c969310a 100644
--- a/pkg/reboot/calculator.go
+++ b/pkg/reboot/calculator.go
@@ -60,7 +60,13 @@ func (r *calculator) GetRebootDuration(k8sClient client.Client, ctx context.Cont
 		return 0, errors.New("SelfNodeRemediationConfig not set yet, can't calculate minimum reboot duration")
 	}
 
-	watchdogTimeout := utils.GetWatchdogTimeout(node)
+	watchdogTimeout, err := utils.GetWatchdogTimeout(node)
+	if err != nil {
+		// 60s is the maximum default watchdog timeout according to https://docs.kernel.org/watchdog/watchdog-parameters.html
+		defaultWatchdogTimeout := 60 * time.Second
+		r.log.Error(err, "failed to get watchdog timeout from node annotations, will use the default timeout", "node", node.Name, "default timeout in seconds", defaultWatchdogTimeout.Seconds())
+		watchdogTimeout = defaultWatchdogTimeout
+	}
 	minimumCalculatedRebootDuration, err := r.calculateMinimumRebootDuration(k8sClient, ctx, watchdogTimeout)
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0, errors.Wrap(err, "failed to calculate minimum reboot duration")
diff --git a/pkg/utils/annotations.go b/pkg/utils/annotations.go
index 47db7336..327ebffb 100644
--- a/pkg/utils/annotations.go
+++ b/pkg/utils/annotations.go
@@ -72,15 +72,15 @@ func IsSoftwareRebootEnabled() (bool, error) {
 	return softwareRebootEnabled, nil
 }
 
-func GetWatchdogTimeout(node *v1.Node) time.Duration {
+func GetWatchdogTimeout(node *v1.Node) (time.Duration, error) {
 	if node.Annotations == nil {
-		return 0
+		return 0, errors.New("node has no annotations")
 	}
 
 	timeout, err := strconv.Atoi(node.Annotations[WatchdogTimeoutSecondsAnnotation])
 	if err != nil {
-		return 0
+		return 0, errors.Wrapf(err, "failed to convert watchdog timeout to int. value is: %s", node.Annotations[WatchdogTimeoutSecondsAnnotation])
 	}
 
-	return time.Duration(timeout) * time.Second
+	return time.Duration(timeout) * time.Second, nil
 }