diff --git a/drivers/md/md.c b/drivers/md/md.c
index 4c74424c78b0..3e2acfa1696d 100644
--- a/drivers/md/md.c
+++ b/drivers/md/md.c
@@ -5277,8 +5277,8 @@ static void md_clean(struct mddev *mddev)
 
 static void __md_stop_writes(struct mddev *mddev)
 {
+	set_bit(MD_RECOVERY_FROZEN, &mddev->recovery);
 	if (mddev->sync_thread) {
-		set_bit(MD_RECOVERY_FROZEN, &mddev->recovery);
 		set_bit(MD_RECOVERY_INTR, &mddev->recovery);
 		md_reap_sync_thread(mddev);
 	}