diff --git a/drivers/md/raid5.c b/drivers/md/raid5.c
index 180ff0660b6a..f35c2a7b2be1 100644
--- a/drivers/md/raid5.c
+++ b/drivers/md/raid5.c
@@ -996,7 +996,7 @@ static void stripe_add_to_batch_list(struct r5conf *conf,
 	if (test_and_clear_bit(STRIPE_BIT_DELAY, &sh->state)) {
 		int seq = sh->bm_seq;
 		if (test_bit(STRIPE_BIT_DELAY, &sh->batch_head->state) &&
-		    sh->batch_head->bm_seq > seq)
+		    sh->batch_head->bm_seq - seq > 0)
 			seq = sh->batch_head->bm_seq;
 		set_bit(STRIPE_BIT_DELAY, &sh->batch_head->state);
 		sh->batch_head->bm_seq = seq;