diff --git a/drivers/md/bcache/writeback.c b/drivers/md/bcache/writeback.c
index 08c3a9f9676c..1696b212ec4e 100644
--- a/drivers/md/bcache/writeback.c
+++ b/drivers/md/bcache/writeback.c
@@ -777,7 +777,7 @@ void bch_cached_dev_writeback_init(struct cached_dev *dc)
 	bch_keybuf_init(&dc->writeback_keys);
 
 	dc->writeback_metadata		= true;
-	dc->writeback_running		= true;
+	dc->writeback_running		= false;
 	dc->writeback_percent		= 10;
 	dc->writeback_delay		= 30;
 	atomic_long_set(&dc->writeback_rate.rate, 1024);
@@ -805,6 +805,7 @@ int bch_cached_dev_writeback_start(struct cached_dev *dc)
 		cached_dev_put(dc);
 		return PTR_ERR(dc->writeback_thread);
 	}
+	dc->writeback_running = true;
 
 	WARN_ON(test_and_set_bit(BCACHE_DEV_WB_RUNNING, &dc->disk.flags));
 	schedule_delayed_work(&dc->writeback_rate_update,