diff --git a/Documentation/networking/mptcp-sysctl.rst b/Documentation/networking/mptcp-sysctl.rst
index dc45c0211353..03e1d3610333 100644
--- a/Documentation/networking/mptcp-sysctl.rst
+++ b/Documentation/networking/mptcp-sysctl.rst
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ blackhole_timeout - INTEGER (seconds)
 	MPTCP is re-enabled and will reset to the initial value when the
 	blackhole issue goes away.
 
-	0 to disable the blackhole detection.
+	0 to disable the blackhole detection. This is a per-namespace sysctl.
 
 	Default: 3600
 
diff --git a/net/mptcp/ctrl.c b/net/mptcp/ctrl.c
index 3999e0ba2c35..2dd81e6c26bd 100644
--- a/net/mptcp/ctrl.c
+++ b/net/mptcp/ctrl.c
@@ -418,9 +418,9 @@ void mptcp_active_detect_blackhole(struct sock *ssk, bool expired)
 			MPTCP_INC_STATS(net, MPTCP_MIB_MPCAPABLEACTIVEDROP);
 			subflow->mpc_drop = 1;
 			mptcp_subflow_early_fallback(mptcp_sk(subflow->conn), subflow);
-		} else {
-			subflow->mpc_drop = 0;
 		}
+	} else if (ssk->sk_state == TCP_SYN_SENT) {
+		subflow->mpc_drop = 0;
 	}
 }