diff --git a/drivers/misc/mei/client.c b/drivers/misc/mei/client.c
index 59d20c599b16570aad2e0b9da61718fab05816b4..9f8ab28bcb60d16565c14052788045a5f7e01488 100644
--- a/drivers/misc/mei/client.c
+++ b/drivers/misc/mei/client.c
@@ -616,6 +616,7 @@ int mei_cl_connect(struct mei_cl *cl, struct file *file)
 	mutex_lock(&dev->device_lock);
 
 	if (cl->state != MEI_FILE_CONNECTED) {
+		cl->state = MEI_FILE_DISCONNECTED;
 		/* something went really wrong */
 		if (!cl->status)
 			cl->status = -EFAULT;