diff --git a/drivers/scsi/sd.c b/drivers/scsi/sd.c
index 4e08d1cd..84fa4c4 100644
--- a/drivers/scsi/sd.c
+++ b/drivers/scsi/sd.c
@@ -3268,8 +3268,8 @@
 	struct scsi_disk *sdkp = dev_get_drvdata(dev);
 	int ret = 0;
 
-	if (!sdkp)
-		return 0;	/* this can happen */
+	if (!sdkp)	/* E.g.: runtime suspend following sd_remove() */
+		return 0;
 
 	if (sdkp->WCE && sdkp->media_present) {
 		sd_printk(KERN_NOTICE, sdkp, "Synchronizing SCSI cache\n");
@@ -3308,6 +3308,9 @@
 {
 	struct scsi_disk *sdkp = dev_get_drvdata(dev);
 
+	if (!sdkp)	/* E.g.: runtime resume at the start of sd_probe() */
+		return 0;
+
 	if (!sdkp->device->manage_start_stop)
 		return 0;