diff --git a/drivers/md/md.c b/drivers/md/md.c
index 11a67eac55b1..5599712d478e 100644
--- a/drivers/md/md.c
+++ b/drivers/md/md.c
@@ -6498,6 +6498,9 @@ static int hot_remove_disk(struct mddev *mddev, dev_t dev)
 	char b[BDEVNAME_SIZE];
 	struct md_rdev *rdev;
 
+	if (!mddev->pers)
+		return -ENODEV;
+
 	rdev = find_rdev(mddev, dev);
 	if (!rdev)
 		return -ENXIO;