diff --git a/drivers/md/md.c b/drivers/md/md.c
index 99b60d37114c..40dea4c06457 100644
--- a/drivers/md/md.c
+++ b/drivers/md/md.c
@@ -9302,9 +9302,14 @@ static bool md_spares_need_change(struct mddev *mddev)
 {
 	struct md_rdev *rdev;
 
-	rdev_for_each(rdev, mddev)
-		if (rdev_removeable(rdev) || rdev_addable(rdev))
+	rcu_read_lock();
+	rdev_for_each_rcu(rdev, mddev) {
+		if (rdev_removeable(rdev) || rdev_addable(rdev)) {
+			rcu_read_unlock();
 			return true;
+		}
+	}
+	rcu_read_unlock();
 	return false;
 }