diff --git a/drivers/md/linear.c b/drivers/md/linear.c
index bb2a231..9db8ee0 100644
--- a/drivers/md/linear.c
+++ b/drivers/md/linear.c
@@ -281,6 +281,7 @@
 	rcu_barrier();
 	blk_sync_queue(mddev->queue); /* the unplug fn references 'conf'*/
 	kfree(conf);
+	mddev->private = NULL;
 
 	return 0;
 }