diff --git a/drivers/md/linear.c b/drivers/md/linear.c
index c3273efd08cb6dce7a19cd8d193e98ff23600bb7..627456542fb3d0d1f1d18780db24a5531b29ce32 100644
--- a/drivers/md/linear.c
+++ b/drivers/md/linear.c
@@ -230,6 +230,7 @@ static int linear_add(struct mddev *mddev, struct md_rdev *rdev)
 		return -EINVAL;
 
 	rdev->raid_disk = rdev->saved_raid_disk;
+	rdev->saved_raid_disk = -1;
 
 	newconf = linear_conf(mddev,mddev->raid_disks+1);