diff --git a/sys/dev/ata/ata-queue.c b/sys/dev/ata/ata-queue.c
index f3bdfa33dee8..03e38279ec1f 100644
--- a/sys/dev/ata/ata-queue.c
+++ b/sys/dev/ata/ata-queue.c
@@ -238,14 +238,11 @@ ata_completed(void *context, int dummy)
 
     /* if we had a timeout, reinit channel and deal with the falldown */
     if (request->flags & ATA_R_TIMEOUT) {
-	int error = ata_reinit(ch);
-
-	/* if our device disappeared return as cleanup was done already */
-	if (!request->device->param)
-	    return;
-	
-	/* if reinit succeeded and retries still permit, reinject request */
-	if (!error && request->retries-- > 0) {
+	/*
+	 * if reinit succeeds, retries still permit and device didn't
+	 * get removed by the reinit, reinject request
+	 */
+	if (ata_reinit(ch) && request->retries-- > 0 && request->device->param){
 	    request->flags &= ~(ATA_R_TIMEOUT | ATA_R_DEBUG);
 	    request->flags |= (ATA_R_IMMEDIATE | ATA_R_REQUEUE);
 	    ATA_DEBUG_RQ(request, "completed reinject");