diff --git a/include/ublksrv.h b/include/ublksrv.h
index daec867a..bf14ee2a 100644
--- a/include/ublksrv.h
+++ b/include/ublksrv.h
@@ -539,6 +539,13 @@ extern void ublksrv_ctrl_prep_recovery(struct ublksrv_ctrl_dev *dev,
  */
 extern const char *ublksrv_ctrl_get_recovery_jbuf(const struct ublksrv_ctrl_dev *dev);
 
+/**
+ * Return true if this control device is for recovering
+ *
+ * @param dev the ublksrv control device instance
+ */
+extern bool ublksrv_is_recovering(const struct ublksrv_ctrl_dev *ctrl_dev);
+
 /** @} */ // end of ctrl_dev group
 
 
diff --git a/include/ublksrv_priv.h b/include/ublksrv_priv.h
index 2996baa8..f37bc440 100644
--- a/include/ublksrv_priv.h
+++ b/include/ublksrv_priv.h
@@ -55,8 +55,11 @@ struct ublksrv_ctrl_dev {
 			int tgt_argc;
 			char **tgt_argv;
 		};
-		/* used by ->recovery_tgt() */
-		const char *recovery_jbuf;
+		/* used by ->recovery_tgt(), tgt_argc == -1 */
+		struct {
+			int padding;
+			const char *recovery_jbuf;
+		};
 	};
 
 	cpu_set_t *queues_cpuset;
diff --git a/lib/ublksrv.c b/lib/ublksrv.c
index 7520491c..216d7698 100644
--- a/lib/ublksrv.c
+++ b/lib/ublksrv.c
@@ -8,6 +8,11 @@
 #include "ublksrv_priv.h"
 #include "ublksrv_aio.h"
 
+bool ublksrv_is_recovering(const struct ublksrv_ctrl_dev *ctrl_dev)
+{
+	return ctrl_dev->tgt_argc == -1;
+}
+
 static inline struct ublksrv_io_desc *ublksrv_get_iod(
 		const struct _ublksrv_queue *q, int tag)
 {
@@ -74,7 +79,7 @@ static int __ublksrv_tgt_init(struct _ublksrv_dev *dev, const char *type_name,
 	optind = 0;     /* so that we can parse our arguments */
 	tgt->ops = ops;
 
-	if (dev->ctrl_dev->dev_info.state != UBLK_S_DEV_QUIESCED)
+	if (!ublksrv_is_recovering(dev->ctrl_dev))
 		ret = ops->init_tgt(local_to_tdev(dev), type, argc, argv);
 	else {
 		if (ops->recovery_tgt)
diff --git a/lib/ublksrv_cmd.c b/lib/ublksrv_cmd.c
index 5730e9a4..b2e0d155 100644
--- a/lib/ublksrv_cmd.c
+++ b/lib/ublksrv_cmd.c
@@ -589,6 +589,7 @@ void ublksrv_ctrl_prep_recovery(struct ublksrv_ctrl_dev *dev,
 {
 	dev->tgt_type = tgt_type;
 	dev->tgt_ops = tgt_ops;
+	dev->tgt_argc = -1;
 	dev->recovery_jbuf = recovery_jbuf;
 }
 
diff --git a/ublksrv_tgt.cpp b/ublksrv_tgt.cpp
index 15393b3b..c8f05586 100644
--- a/ublksrv_tgt.cpp
+++ b/ublksrv_tgt.cpp
@@ -343,11 +343,10 @@ static void *ublksrv_io_handler_fn(void *data)
 	int buf_size;
 	char *buf;
 	const char *jbuf;
-	bool recoverying = dinfo->state == UBLK_S_DEV_QUIESCED;
 
 	pthread_mutex_lock(&jbuf_lock);
 
-	if (!recoverying) {
+	if (!ublksrv_is_recovering(cdev)) {
 		do {
 			buf = __ublksrv_tgt_realloc_json_buf(dev, &buf_size);
 			ret = ublksrv_json_write_queue_info(cdev, buf, buf_size,