diff --git a/block/scsi_ioctl.c b/block/scsi_ioctl.c
index 26487972ac54..9c28a5b38042 100644
--- a/block/scsi_ioctl.c
+++ b/block/scsi_ioctl.c
@@ -205,10 +205,6 @@ int blk_verify_command(unsigned char *cmd, fmode_t has_write_perm)
 	if (capable(CAP_SYS_RAWIO))
 		return 0;
 
-	/* if there's no filter set, assume we're filtering everything out */
-	if (!filter)
-		return -EPERM;
-
 	/* Anybody who can open the device can do a read-safe command */
 	if (test_bit(cmd[0], filter->read_ok))
 		return 0;