diff --git a/drivers/md/md.c b/drivers/md/md.c
index e60cebf3f519..2a456a5d59a8 100644
--- a/drivers/md/md.c
+++ b/drivers/md/md.c
@@ -1087,6 +1087,7 @@ static int super_90_validate(struct mddev *mddev, struct md_rdev *rdev)
 	rdev->raid_disk = -1;
 	clear_bit(Faulty, &rdev->flags);
 	clear_bit(In_sync, &rdev->flags);
+	clear_bit(Bitmap_sync, &rdev->flags);
 	clear_bit(WriteMostly, &rdev->flags);
 
 	if (mddev->raid_disks == 0) {
@@ -1165,6 +1166,8 @@ static int super_90_validate(struct mddev *mddev, struct md_rdev *rdev)
 		 */
 		if (ev1 < mddev->bitmap->events_cleared)
 			return 0;
+		if (ev1 < mddev->events)
+			set_bit(Bitmap_sync, &rdev->flags);
 	} else {
 		if (ev1 < mddev->events)
 			/* just a hot-add of a new device, leave raid_disk at -1 */
@@ -1573,6 +1576,7 @@ static int super_1_validate(struct mddev *mddev, struct md_rdev *rdev)
 	rdev->raid_disk = -1;
 	clear_bit(Faulty, &rdev->flags);
 	clear_bit(In_sync, &rdev->flags);
+	clear_bit(Bitmap_sync, &rdev->flags);
 	clear_bit(WriteMostly, &rdev->flags);
 
 	if (mddev->raid_disks == 0) {
@@ -1655,6 +1659,8 @@ static int super_1_validate(struct mddev *mddev, struct md_rdev *rdev)
 		 */
 		if (ev1 < mddev->bitmap->events_cleared)
 			return 0;
+		if (ev1 < mddev->events)
+			set_bit(Bitmap_sync, &rdev->flags);
 	} else {
 		if (ev1 < mddev->events)
 			/* just a hot-add of a new device, leave raid_disk at -1 */
@@ -2798,6 +2804,7 @@ slot_store(struct md_rdev *rdev, const char *buf, size_t len)
 		else
 			rdev->saved_raid_disk = -1;
 		clear_bit(In_sync, &rdev->flags);
+		clear_bit(Bitmap_sync, &rdev->flags);
 		err = rdev->mddev->pers->
 			hot_add_disk(rdev->mddev, rdev);
 		if (err) {
@@ -5770,6 +5777,7 @@ static int add_new_disk(struct mddev * mddev, mdu_disk_info_t *info)
 			    info->raid_disk < mddev->raid_disks) {
 				rdev->raid_disk = info->raid_disk;
 				set_bit(In_sync, &rdev->flags);
+				clear_bit(Bitmap_sync, &rdev->flags);
 			} else
 				rdev->raid_disk = -1;
 		} else
@@ -7716,7 +7724,8 @@ static int remove_and_add_spares(struct mddev *mddev,
 		if (test_bit(Faulty, &rdev->flags))
 			continue;
 		if (mddev->ro &&
-		    rdev->saved_raid_disk < 0)
+		    ! (rdev->saved_raid_disk >= 0 &&
+		       !test_bit(Bitmap_sync, &rdev->flags)))
 			continue;
 
 		rdev->recovery_offset = 0;
@@ -7797,9 +7806,12 @@ void md_check_recovery(struct mddev *mddev)
 			 * As we only add devices that are already in-sync,
 			 * we can activate the spares immediately.
 			 */
-			clear_bit(MD_RECOVERY_NEEDED, &mddev->recovery);
 			remove_and_add_spares(mddev, NULL);
-			mddev->pers->spare_active(mddev);
+			/* There is no thread, but we need to call
+			 * ->spare_active and clear saved_raid_disk
+			 */
+			md_reap_sync_thread(mddev);
+			clear_bit(MD_RECOVERY_NEEDED, &mddev->recovery);
 			goto unlock;
 		}
 
diff --git a/drivers/md/md.h b/drivers/md/md.h
index 2f5cc8a7ef3e..0095ec84ffc7 100644
--- a/drivers/md/md.h
+++ b/drivers/md/md.h
@@ -129,6 +129,9 @@ struct md_rdev {
 enum flag_bits {
 	Faulty,			/* device is known to have a fault */
 	In_sync,		/* device is in_sync with rest of array */
+	Bitmap_sync,		/* ..actually, not quite In_sync.  Need a
+				 * bitmap-based recovery to get fully in sync
+				 */
 	Unmerged,		/* device is being added to array and should
 				 * be considerred for bvec_merge_fn but not
 				 * yet for actual IO