diff --git a/drivers/md/md.c b/drivers/md/md.c
index f77cad854044..c059f17b44d2 100644
--- a/drivers/md/md.c
+++ b/drivers/md/md.c
@@ -2595,8 +2595,10 @@ state_store(struct md_rdev *rdev, const char *buf, size_t len)
 		else
 			err = -EBUSY;
 	} else if (cmd_match(buf, "remove")) {
-		clear_bit(Blocked, &rdev->flags);
-		remove_and_add_spares(rdev->mddev, rdev);
+		if (rdev->mddev->pers) {
+			clear_bit(Blocked, &rdev->flags);
+			remove_and_add_spares(rdev->mddev, rdev);
+		}
 		if (rdev->raid_disk >= 0)
 			err = -EBUSY;
 		else {