diff --git a/fs/gfs2/recovery.c b/fs/gfs2/recovery.c
index 27c994f2d1f0..b249e294a95b 100644
--- a/fs/gfs2/recovery.c
+++ b/fs/gfs2/recovery.c
@@ -504,13 +504,21 @@ int gfs2_recover_journal(struct gfs2_jdesc *jd)
 			if (!test_bit(SDF_JOURNAL_LIVE, &sdp->sd_flags))
 				ro = 1;
 		} else {
-			if (sdp->sd_vfs->s_flags & MS_RDONLY)
-				ro = 1;
+			if (sdp->sd_vfs->s_flags & MS_RDONLY) {
+				/* check if device itself is read-only */
+				ro = bdev_read_only(sdp->sd_vfs->s_bdev);
+				if (!ro) {
+					fs_info(sdp, "recovery required on "
+						"read-only filesystem.\n");
+					fs_info(sdp, "write access will be "
+						"enabled during recovery.\n");
+				}
+			}
 		}
 
 		if (ro) {
-			fs_warn(sdp, "jid=%u: Can't replay: read-only FS\n",
-				jd->jd_jid);
+			fs_warn(sdp, "jid=%u: Can't replay: read-only block "
+				"device\n", jd->jd_jid);
 			error = -EROFS;
 			goto fail_gunlock_tr;
 		}