diff --git a/drivers/md/md.c b/drivers/md/md.c
index 09be637d52cbb6041a67166807f948f9a00f08f2..2166af8a76546d43f6739dadbcfd4e23779bf4c1 100644
--- a/drivers/md/md.c
+++ b/drivers/md/md.c
@@ -3573,7 +3573,8 @@ suspend_lo_store(mddev_t *mddev, const char *buf, size_t len)
 	char *e;
 	unsigned long long new = simple_strtoull(buf, &e, 10);
 
-	if (mddev->pers->quiesce == NULL)
+	if (mddev->pers == NULL || 
+	    mddev->pers->quiesce == NULL)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	if (buf == e || (*e && *e != '\n'))
 		return -EINVAL;
@@ -3601,7 +3602,8 @@ suspend_hi_store(mddev_t *mddev, const char *buf, size_t len)
 	char *e;
 	unsigned long long new = simple_strtoull(buf, &e, 10);
 
-	if (mddev->pers->quiesce == NULL)
+	if (mddev->pers == NULL ||
+	    mddev->pers->quiesce == NULL)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	if (buf == e || (*e && *e != '\n'))
 		return -EINVAL;