diff --git a/WHATS_NEW b/WHATS_NEW
index 243ca25e3..c71c6d500 100644
--- a/WHATS_NEW
+++ b/WHATS_NEW
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 Version 2.02.28 -
 ================================
+  Don't try to monitor devices which we failed to create.
   Don't leak a file descriptor in fcntl_lock_file(), when fcntl fails.
   Remove create_dir function; use now-equivalent dm_create_dir instead
   Detect stream write failure reliably; new fn: lvm_fclose; use dm_fclose
diff --git a/lib/activate/activate.c b/lib/activate/activate.c
index 980351606..c262ff390 100644
--- a/lib/activate/activate.c
+++ b/lib/activate/activate.c
@@ -963,7 +963,7 @@ static int _lv_activate(struct cmd_context *cmd, const char *lvid_s,
 	memlock_dec();
 	fs_unlock();
 
-	if (!monitor_dev_for_events(cmd, lv, 1))
+	if (r && !monitor_dev_for_events(cmd, lv, 1))
 		stack;
 
 	return r;