diff --git a/Incremental.c b/Incremental.c
index 30dc7a2..6cf2174 100644
--- a/Incremental.c
+++ b/Incremental.c
@@ -886,16 +886,10 @@ static int array_try_spare(char *devname, int *dfdp, struct dev_policy *pol,
 		}
 		sra = sysfs_read(-1, mp->devnm,
 				 GET_DEVS|GET_OFFSET|GET_SIZE|GET_STATE|
-				 GET_DEGRADED|GET_COMPONENT|GET_VERSION);
-		if (!sra) {
-			/* Probably a container - no degraded info */
-			sra = sysfs_read(-1, mp->devnm,
-					 GET_DEVS|GET_OFFSET|GET_SIZE|GET_STATE|
-					 GET_COMPONENT|GET_VERSION);
-			if (sra)
-				sra->array.failed_disks = -1;
-		}
-		if (!sra)
+				 GET_COMPONENT|GET_VERSION);
+		if (sra)
+			sra->array.failed_disks = -1;
+		else
 			continue;
 		if (st == NULL) {
 			int i;
diff --git a/Monitor.c b/Monitor.c
index 725f47d..bef2f1b 100644
--- a/Monitor.c
+++ b/Monitor.c
@@ -485,8 +485,8 @@ static int check_array(struct state *st, struct mdstat_ent *mdstat,
 	if (st->devnm[0] == 0)
 		strcpy(st->devnm, fd2devnm(fd));
 
-	sra = sysfs_read(-1, st->devnm, GET_LEVEL | GET_DISKS | GET_DEGRADED |
-			 GET_MISMATCH | GET_DEVS | GET_STATE);
+	sra = sysfs_read(-1, st->devnm, GET_LEVEL | GET_DISKS | GET_MISMATCH |
+			 GET_DEVS | GET_STATE);
 	if (!sra)
 		goto disappeared;
 
diff --git a/managemon.c b/managemon.c
index a8df666..68f0c2d 100644
--- a/managemon.c
+++ b/managemon.c
@@ -685,8 +685,8 @@ static void manage_new(struct mdstat_ent *mdstat,
 
 	mdi = sysfs_read(-1, mdstat->devnm,
 			 GET_LEVEL|GET_CHUNK|GET_DISKS|GET_COMPONENT|
-			 GET_DEGRADED|GET_SAFEMODE|
-			 GET_DEVS|GET_OFFSET|GET_SIZE|GET_STATE|GET_LAYOUT);
+			 GET_SAFEMODE|GET_DEVS|GET_OFFSET|GET_SIZE|GET_STATE|
+			 GET_LAYOUT);
 
 	if (!mdi)
 		return;
diff --git a/mdadm.h b/mdadm.h
index ec0a39e..ee9b837 100644
--- a/mdadm.h
+++ b/mdadm.h
@@ -637,7 +637,6 @@ enum sysfs_read_flags {
 	GET_MISMATCH	= (1 << 5),
 	GET_VERSION	= (1 << 6),
 	GET_DISKS	= (1 << 7),
-	GET_DEGRADED	= (1 << 8),
 	GET_SAFEMODE	= (1 << 9),
 	GET_BITMAP_LOCATION = (1 << 10),
 
diff --git a/raid6check.c b/raid6check.c
index 551f835..a8e6005 100644
--- a/raid6check.c
+++ b/raid6check.c
@@ -562,7 +562,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			  GET_LEVEL|
 			  GET_LAYOUT|
 			  GET_DISKS|
-			  GET_DEGRADED |
+			  GET_STATE |
 			  GET_COMPONENT|
 			  GET_CHUNK|
 			  GET_DEVS|
diff --git a/sysfs.c b/sysfs.c
index e47f5e4..78d2b52 100644
--- a/sysfs.c
+++ b/sysfs.c
@@ -162,18 +162,12 @@ struct mdinfo *sysfs_read(int fd, char *devnm, unsigned long options)
 			goto abort;
 		sra->array.layout = strtoul(buf, NULL, 0);
 	}
-	if (options & GET_DISKS) {
+	if (options & (GET_DISKS|GET_STATE)) {
 		strcpy(base, "raid_disks");
 		if (load_sys(fname, buf, sizeof(buf)))
 			goto abort;
 		sra->array.raid_disks = strtoul(buf, NULL, 0);
 	}
-	if (options & GET_DEGRADED) {
-		strcpy(base, "degraded");
-		if (load_sys(fname, buf, sizeof(buf)))
-			goto abort;
-		sra->array.failed_disks = strtoul(buf, NULL, 0);
-	}
 	if (options & GET_COMPONENT) {
 		strcpy(base, "component_size");
 		if (load_sys(fname, buf, sizeof(buf)))
@@ -359,10 +353,9 @@ struct mdinfo *sysfs_read(int fd, char *devnm, unsigned long options)
 			strcpy(dbase, "state");
 			if (load_sys(fname, buf, sizeof(buf)))
 				goto abort;
-			if (strstr(buf, "faulty")) {
+			if (strstr(buf, "faulty"))
 				dev->disk.state |= (1<<MD_DISK_FAULTY);
-				sra->array.failed_disks++;
-			} else {
+			else {
 				sra->array.working_disks++;
 				if (strstr(buf, "in_sync")) {
 					dev->disk.state |= (1<<MD_DISK_SYNC);
@@ -379,6 +372,11 @@ struct mdinfo *sysfs_read(int fd, char *devnm, unsigned long options)
 			dev->errors = strtoul(buf, NULL, 0);
 		}
 	}
+
+	if ((options & GET_STATE) && sra->array.raid_disks)
+		sra->array.failed_disks = sra->array.raid_disks -
+			sra->array.active_disks - sra->array.spare_disks;
+
 	closedir(dir);
 	return sra;