diff --git a/module/zfs/spa.c b/module/zfs/spa.c
index 53aa05d01f..3312c301cb 100644
--- a/module/zfs/spa.c
+++ b/module/zfs/spa.c
@@ -2714,7 +2714,7 @@ spa_load_impl(spa_t *spa, uint64_t pool_guid, nvlist_t *config,
 		if (rvd->vdev_state <= VDEV_STATE_CANT_OPEN)
 			return (SET_ERROR(ENXIO));
 
-		if (spa_check_logs(spa)) {
+		if (spa_writeable(spa) && spa_check_logs(spa)) {
 			*ereport = FM_EREPORT_ZFS_LOG_REPLAY;
 			return (spa_vdev_err(rvd, VDEV_AUX_BAD_LOG, ENXIO));
 		}