diff --git a/drivers/md/md.c b/drivers/md/md.c
index 8fda38d23e38..237b7e0ddc7a 100644
--- a/drivers/md/md.c
+++ b/drivers/md/md.c
@@ -8516,7 +8516,8 @@ static int md_notify_reboot(struct notifier_block *this,
 		if (mddev_trylock(mddev)) {
 			if (mddev->pers)
 				__md_stop_writes(mddev);
-			mddev->safemode = 2;
+			if (mddev->persistent)
+				mddev->safemode = 2;
 			mddev_unlock(mddev);
 		}
 		need_delay = 1;