diff --git a/drivers/timer/nrf_rtc_timer.c b/drivers/timer/nrf_rtc_timer.c
index 2e1688a23cb..ba8dad9ebe7 100644
--- a/drivers/timer/nrf_rtc_timer.c
+++ b/drivers/timer/nrf_rtc_timer.c
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #define CYC_PER_TICK (sys_clock_hw_cycles_per_sec()	\
 		      / CONFIG_SYS_CLOCK_TICKS_PER_SEC)
 #define MAX_TICKS ((COUNTER_MAX - CYC_PER_TICK) / CYC_PER_TICK)
+#define MAX_CYCLES (MAX_TICKS * CYC_PER_TICK)
 
 static struct k_spinlock lock;
 
@@ -121,10 +122,20 @@ void z_clock_set_timeout(s32_t ticks, bool idle)
 	u32_t cyc, dt, t = counter();
 	bool zli_fixup = IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_ZERO_LATENCY_IRQS);
 
-	/* Round up to next tick boundary */
+	/* Get the cycles from last_count to the tick boundary after
+	 * the requested ticks have passed starting now.
+	 */
 	cyc = ticks * CYC_PER_TICK + 1 + counter_sub(t, last_count);
 	cyc += (CYC_PER_TICK - 1);
 	cyc = (cyc / CYC_PER_TICK) * CYC_PER_TICK;
+
+	/* Due to elapsed time the calculation above might produce a
+	 * duration that laps the counter.  Don't let it.
+	 */
+	if (cyc > MAX_CYCLES) {
+		cyc = MAX_CYCLES;
+	}
+
 	cyc += last_count;
 
 	/* Per NRF docs, the RTC is guaranteed to trigger a compare