diff --git a/drivers/md/md.c b/drivers/md/md.c
index a970fdd0ce8c0..f5dfa503fb6fe 100644
--- a/drivers/md/md.c
+++ b/drivers/md/md.c
@@ -7768,7 +7768,8 @@ static int md_open(struct block_device *bdev, fmode_t mode)
 		 */
 		mddev_put(mddev);
 		/* Wait until bdev->bd_disk is definitely gone */
-		flush_workqueue(md_misc_wq);
+		if (work_pending(&mddev->del_work))
+			flush_workqueue(md_misc_wq);
 		/* Then retry the open from the top */
 		return -ERESTARTSYS;
 	}