diff --git a/module/zfs/spa.c b/module/zfs/spa.c
index dde909eaec..a6bc4e5912 100644
--- a/module/zfs/spa.c
+++ b/module/zfs/spa.c
@@ -3962,12 +3962,6 @@ spa_import(char *pool, nvlist_t *config, nvlist_t *props, uint64_t flags)
 
 	VERIFY(nvlist_lookup_nvlist(config, ZPOOL_CONFIG_VDEV_TREE,
 	    &nvroot) == 0);
-	if (error == 0)
-		error = spa_validate_aux(spa, nvroot, -1ULL,
-		    VDEV_ALLOC_SPARE);
-	if (error == 0)
-		error = spa_validate_aux(spa, nvroot, -1ULL,
-		    VDEV_ALLOC_L2CACHE);
 	spa_config_exit(spa, SCL_ALL, FTAG);
 
 	if (props != NULL)