diff --git a/block/blk-map.c b/block/blk-map.c
index 164cd0059706..623e1cd4cffe 100644
--- a/block/blk-map.c
+++ b/block/blk-map.c
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ int blk_rq_map_kern(struct request_queue *q, struct request *rq, void *kbuf,
 	if (IS_ERR(bio))
 		return PTR_ERR(bio);
 
-	if (rq_data_dir(rq) == WRITE)
+	if (!reading)
 		bio->bi_rw |= REQ_WRITE;
 
 	if (do_copy)