diff --git a/drivers/md/raid5.c b/drivers/md/raid5.c
index 316fbe79389a91d6510ec26e06aaf6351675cd0d..9212c077095c31bc9514e8a38beed07490c22bc4 100644
--- a/drivers/md/raid5.c
+++ b/drivers/md/raid5.c
@@ -5338,7 +5338,7 @@ static int raid5_spare_active(mddev_t *mddev)
 		    && !test_bit(Faulty, &tmp->rdev->flags)
 		    && !test_and_set_bit(In_sync, &tmp->rdev->flags)) {
 			count++;
-			sysfs_notify_dirent(tmp->rdev->sysfs_state);
+			sysfs_notify_dirent_safe(tmp->rdev->sysfs_state);
 		}
 	}
 	spin_lock_irqsave(&conf->device_lock, flags);