diff --git a/drivers/md/bitmap.c b/drivers/md/bitmap.c
index ab7c8e4a61f9..666b7ba47ec5 100644
--- a/drivers/md/bitmap.c
+++ b/drivers/md/bitmap.c
@@ -964,9 +964,11 @@ static int bitmap_init_from_disk(struct bitmap *bitmap, sector_t start)
 				 */
 				page = bitmap->sb_page;
 				offset = sizeof(bitmap_super_t);
-				read_sb_page(bitmap->mddev, bitmap->offset,
-					     page,
-					     index, count);
+				if (!file)
+					read_sb_page(bitmap->mddev,
+						     bitmap->offset,
+						     page,
+						     index, count);
 			} else if (file) {
 				page = read_page(file, index, bitmap, count);
 				offset = 0;