diff --git a/hw/ide/core.c b/hw/ide/core.c
index 7256592ff6..fa4cafa71c 100644
--- a/hw/ide/core.c
+++ b/hw/ide/core.c
@@ -2299,7 +2299,7 @@ static int ide_drive_post_load(void *opaque, int version_id)
 {
     IDEState *s = opaque;
 
-    if (s->identify_set) {
+    if (s->bs && s->identify_set) {
         bdrv_set_enable_write_cache(s->bs, !!(s->identify_data[85] & (1 << 5)));
     }
     return 0;