diff --git a/block/blk.h b/block/blk.h
index 6126346..4df474d 100644
--- a/block/blk.h
+++ b/block/blk.h
@@ -62,7 +62,8 @@
 			return rq;
 		}
 
-		if (!q->elevator->ops->elevator_dispatch_fn(q, 0))
+		if (test_bit(QUEUE_FLAG_DEAD, &q->queue_flags) ||
+		    !q->elevator->ops->elevator_dispatch_fn(q, 0))
 			return NULL;
 	}
 }