diff --git a/drivers/net/ovpn/main.c b/drivers/net/ovpn/main.c
index 168cfe9b59a9..0708249e9607 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ovpn/main.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ovpn/main.c
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #include <linux/module.h>
 #include <linux/netdevice.h>
 #include <linux/inetdevice.h>
+#include <linux/workqueue.h>
 #include <net/gro_cells.h>
 #include <net/ip.h>
 #include <net/rtnetlink.h>
@@ -26,6 +27,9 @@
 #include "tcp.h"
 #include "udp.h"
 
+/* module-owned workqueue on which all ovpn-specific work is queued */
+struct workqueue_struct *ovpn_wq;
+
 static void ovpn_priv_free(struct net_device *net)
 {
 	struct ovpn_priv *ovpn = netdev_priv(net);
@@ -264,10 +268,16 @@ static int __init ovpn_init(void)
 
 	ovpn_tcp_init();
 
+	ovpn_wq = alloc_workqueue("ovpn", WQ_PERCPU, 0);
+	if (!ovpn_wq) {
+		pr_err("ovpn: cannot allocate workqueue\n");
+		return -ENOMEM;
+	}
+
 	err = rtnl_link_register(&ovpn_link_ops);
 	if (err) {
 		pr_err("ovpn: can't register rtnl link ops: %d\n", err);
-		return err;
+		goto destroy_wq;
 	}
 
 	err = ovpn_nl_register();
@@ -280,6 +290,9 @@ static int __init ovpn_init(void)
 
 unreg_rtnl:
 	rtnl_link_unregister(&ovpn_link_ops);
+destroy_wq:
+	destroy_workqueue(ovpn_wq);
+	ovpn_wq = NULL;
 	return err;
 }
 
@@ -288,7 +301,11 @@ static __exit void ovpn_cleanup(void)
 	ovpn_nl_unregister();
 	rtnl_link_unregister(&ovpn_link_ops);
 
+	flush_workqueue(ovpn_wq);
 	rcu_barrier();
+
+	destroy_workqueue(ovpn_wq);
+	ovpn_wq = NULL;
 }
 
 module_init(ovpn_init);
diff --git a/drivers/net/ovpn/ovpnpriv.h b/drivers/net/ovpn/ovpnpriv.h
index 5898f6adada7..84499140e4bd 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ovpn/ovpnpriv.h
+++ b/drivers/net/ovpn/ovpnpriv.h
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@
 #include <uapi/linux/if_link.h>
 #include <uapi/linux/ovpn.h>
 
+struct workqueue_struct;
+
+extern struct workqueue_struct *ovpn_wq;
+
 /**
  * struct ovpn_peer_collection - container of peers for MultiPeer mode
  * @by_id: table of peers index by ID
diff --git a/drivers/net/ovpn/peer.c b/drivers/net/ovpn/peer.c
index b0519f9840d8..c95656ca7c35 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ovpn/peer.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ovpn/peer.c
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ void ovpn_peer_keepalive_set(struct ovpn_peer *peer, u32 interval, u32 timeout)
 	/* now that interval and timeout have been changed, kick
 	 * off the worker so that the next delay can be recomputed
 	 */
-	mod_delayed_work(system_percpu_wq, &peer->ovpn->keepalive_work, 0);
+	mod_delayed_work(ovpn_wq, &peer->ovpn->keepalive_work, 0);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -1371,7 +1371,7 @@ static time64_t ovpn_peer_keepalive_work_single(struct ovpn_peer *peer,
 			   peer->id);
 		if (WARN_ON(!ovpn_peer_hold(peer)))
 			return 0;
-		if (!schedule_work(&peer->keepalive_work))
+		if (!queue_work(ovpn_wq, &peer->keepalive_work))
 			ovpn_peer_put(peer);
 	}
 
@@ -1463,8 +1463,8 @@ void ovpn_peer_keepalive_work(struct work_struct *work)
 		netdev_dbg(ovpn->dev,
 			   "scheduling keepalive work: now=%llu next_run=%llu delta=%llu\n",
 			   next_run, now, next_run - now);
-		schedule_delayed_work(&ovpn->keepalive_work,
-				      (next_run - now) * HZ);
+		queue_delayed_work(ovpn_wq, &ovpn->keepalive_work,
+				   (next_run - now) * HZ);
 	}
 	unlock_ovpn(ovpn, &release_list);
 }
diff --git a/drivers/net/ovpn/tcp.c b/drivers/net/ovpn/tcp.c
index 0af14055c39a..8fe8a8e750a4 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ovpn/tcp.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ovpn/tcp.c
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ static void ovpn_tcp_rcv(struct strparser *strp, struct sk_buff *skb)
 	/* take reference for deferred peer deletion. should never fail */
 	if (WARN_ON(!ovpn_peer_hold(peer)))
 		goto err_nopeer;
-	if (!schedule_work(&peer->tcp.defer_del_work))
+	if (!queue_work(ovpn_wq, &peer->tcp.defer_del_work))
 		ovpn_peer_put(peer);
 	ovpn_dev_dstats_rx_dropped(peer->ovpn->dev);
 err_nopeer:
@@ -284,13 +284,12 @@ static void ovpn_tcp_send_sock(struct ovpn_peer *peer, struct sock *sk)
 			 * stream therefore we abort the connection
 			 */
 			ovpn_peer_hold(peer);
-			if (!schedule_work(&peer->tcp.defer_del_work))
+			if (!queue_work(ovpn_wq, &peer->tcp.defer_del_work))
 				ovpn_peer_put(peer);
 
 			/* we bail out immediately and keep tx_in_progress set
 			 * to true. This way we prevent more TX attempts
-			 * which would lead to more invocations of
-			 * schedule_work()
+			 * which would lead to more invocations of queue_work()
 			 */
 			return;
 		}
@@ -487,7 +486,7 @@ static void ovpn_tcp_write_space(struct sock *sk)
 	rcu_read_lock();
 	sock = rcu_dereference_sk_user_data(sk);
 	if (likely(sock && sock->peer)) {
-		schedule_work(&sock->tcp_tx_work);
+		queue_work(ovpn_wq, &sock->tcp_tx_work);
 		sock->peer->tcp.sk_cb.sk_write_space(sk);
 	}
 	rcu_read_unlock();