diff --git a/drivers/md/md.c b/drivers/md/md.c
index 67b90d547f8b..1cdaa6ff9bd7 100644
--- a/drivers/md/md.c
+++ b/drivers/md/md.c
@@ -1826,8 +1826,15 @@ static int super_1_validate(struct mddev *mddev, struct md_rdev *rdev)
 				if (!(le32_to_cpu(sb->feature_map) &
 				      MD_FEATURE_RECOVERY_BITMAP))
 					rdev->saved_raid_disk = -1;
-			} else
-				set_bit(In_sync, &rdev->flags);
+			} else {
+				/*
+				 * If the array is FROZEN, then the device can't
+				 * be in_sync with rest of array.
+				 */
+				if (!test_bit(MD_RECOVERY_FROZEN,
+					      &mddev->recovery))
+					set_bit(In_sync, &rdev->flags);
+			}
 			rdev->raid_disk = role;
 			break;
 		}