diff --git a/mdadm.h b/mdadm.h
index 6a382a7..07ee963 100644
--- a/mdadm.h
+++ b/mdadm.h
@@ -1415,6 +1415,7 @@ extern int Dump_metadata(char *dev, char *dir, struct context *c,
 extern int Restore_metadata(char *dev, char *dir, struct context *c,
 			    struct supertype *st, int only);
 
+int md_array_valid(int fd);
 int md_array_active(int fd);
 int md_get_array_info(int fd, struct mdu_array_info_s *array);
 int md_set_array_info(int fd, struct mdu_array_info_s *array);
diff --git a/mdopen.c b/mdopen.c
index 099efa0..c4f1c12 100644
--- a/mdopen.c
+++ b/mdopen.c
@@ -442,7 +442,6 @@ int create_mddev(char *dev, char *name, int autof, int trustworthy,
  */
 int open_mddev(char *dev, int report_errors)
 {
-	struct mdu_array_info_s array;
 	int mdfd = open(dev, O_RDONLY);
 
 	if (mdfd < 0) {
@@ -452,7 +451,7 @@ int open_mddev(char *dev, int report_errors)
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	if (md_get_array_info(mdfd, &array) != 0) {
+	if (md_array_valid(mdfd) == 0) {
 		close(mdfd);
 		if (report_errors)
 			pr_err("%s does not appear to be an md device\n", dev);
diff --git a/util.c b/util.c
index 21a63c9..c7585ac 100644
--- a/util.c
+++ b/util.c
@@ -200,6 +200,30 @@ out:
 	return ret;
 }
 
+int md_array_valid(int fd)
+{
+	struct mdinfo *sra;
+	int ret;
+
+	sra = sysfs_read(fd, NULL, GET_ARRAY_STATE);
+	if (sra) {
+		if (sra->array_state != ARRAY_UNKNOWN_STATE)
+			ret = 0;
+		else
+			ret = -ENODEV;
+
+		free(sra);
+	} else {
+		/*
+		 * GET_ARRAY_INFO doesn't provide access to the proper state
+		 * information, so fallback to a basic check for raid_disks != 0
+		 */
+		ret = ioctl(fd, RAID_VERSION);
+	}
+
+	return !ret;
+}
+
 int md_array_active(int fd)
 {
 	struct mdinfo *sra;