diff --git a/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_worker.c b/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_worker.c
index f41e224caa7c9528ecf1b987e28840c9a8504d12..7f51f88b0a8089289e9e491c3d7f7aaf373c072c 100644
--- a/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_worker.c
+++ b/drivers/block/drbd/drbd_worker.c
@@ -1653,7 +1653,9 @@ void drbd_start_resync(struct drbd_conf *mdev, enum drbd_conns side)
 	clear_bit(B_RS_H_DONE, &mdev->flags);
 
 	write_lock_irq(&global_state_lock);
-	if (!get_ldev_if_state(mdev, D_NEGOTIATING)) {
+	/* Did some connection breakage or IO error race with us? */
+	if (mdev->state.conn < C_CONNECTED
+	|| !get_ldev_if_state(mdev, D_NEGOTIATING)) {
 		write_unlock_irq(&global_state_lock);
 		mutex_unlock(mdev->state_mutex);
 		return;