diff --git a/drivers/md/md.c b/drivers/md/md.c
index 6cb2c452f963..096bb64e87bd 100644
--- a/drivers/md/md.c
+++ b/drivers/md/md.c
@@ -395,17 +395,24 @@ static bool is_suspended(struct mddev *mddev, struct bio *bio)
 bool md_handle_request(struct mddev *mddev, struct bio *bio)
 {
 check_suspended:
-	if (is_suspended(mddev, bio)) {
-		/* Bail out if REQ_NOWAIT is set for the bio */
-		if (bio->bi_opf & REQ_NOWAIT) {
-			bio_wouldblock_error(bio);
-			return true;
+	if (unlikely(md_cloned_bio(mddev, bio))) {
+		/*
+		 * This bio is an MD cloned bio and already holds an
+		 * active_io reference, so percpu_ref_get() is safe here.
+		 */
+		percpu_ref_get(&mddev->active_io);
+	} else {
+		if (is_suspended(mddev, bio)) {
+			/* Bail out if REQ_NOWAIT is set for the bio */
+			if (bio->bi_opf & REQ_NOWAIT) {
+				bio_wouldblock_error(bio);
+				return true;
+			}
+			wait_event(mddev->sb_wait, !is_suspended(mddev, bio));
 		}
-		wait_event(mddev->sb_wait, !is_suspended(mddev, bio));
+		if (!percpu_ref_tryget_live(&mddev->active_io))
+			goto check_suspended;
 	}
-	if (!percpu_ref_tryget_live(&mddev->active_io))
-		goto check_suspended;
-
 	if (!mddev->pers->make_request(mddev, bio)) {
 		percpu_ref_put(&mddev->active_io);
 		if (mddev_is_dm(mddev) && mddev->pers->prepare_suspend)
diff --git a/drivers/md/md.h b/drivers/md/md.h
index 9e5100609d12..d8daf0f75cbb 100644
--- a/drivers/md/md.h
+++ b/drivers/md/md.h
@@ -1044,6 +1044,11 @@ void mddev_update_io_opt(struct mddev *mddev, unsigned int nr_stripes);
 
 extern const struct block_device_operations md_fops;
 
+static inline bool md_cloned_bio(struct mddev *mddev, struct bio *bio)
+{
+	return bio->bi_pool == &mddev->io_clone_set;
+}
+
 /*
  * MD devices can be used undeneath by DM, in which case ->gendisk is NULL.
  */