diff --git a/lisp/progmodes/flymake.el b/lisp/progmodes/flymake.el
index 7afcf7891de..830d7009633 100644
--- a/lisp/progmodes/flymake.el
+++ b/lisp/progmodes/flymake.el
@@ -1005,7 +1005,9 @@ Do it only if `flymake-no-changes-timeout' is non-nil."
     (setq
      flymake-timer
      (run-with-idle-timer
-      (encode-time flymake-no-changes-timeout)
+      ;; This can use encode-time instead of seconds-to-time,
+      ;; once we can assume Emacs 27 or later.
+      (seconds-to-time flymake-no-changes-timeout)
       nil
       (lambda (buffer)
         (when (buffer-live-p buffer)