diff --git a/kernel/unified/work_q.c b/kernel/unified/work_q.c
index 92262839091..8c29270ca0a 100644
--- a/kernel/unified/work_q.c
+++ b/kernel/unified/work_q.c
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ static void work_timeout(struct _timeout *t)
 
 	/* submit work to workqueue */
 	k_work_submit_to_queue(w->work_q, &w->work);
+	/* detach from workqueue, for cancel to return appropriate status */
+	w->work_q = NULL;
 }
 
 void k_delayed_work_init(struct k_delayed_work *work, k_work_handler_t handler)