diff --git a/net/ipv4/tcp.c b/net/ipv4/tcp.c
index 5a8fb2601b28..aeda018e4c49 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/tcp.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/tcp.c
@@ -2672,10 +2672,7 @@ static int do_tcp_setsockopt(struct sock *sk, int level,
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_TCP_MD5SIG
 	case TCP_MD5SIG:
-		if ((1 << sk->sk_state) & (TCPF_CLOSE | TCPF_LISTEN))
-			err = tp->af_specific->md5_parse(sk, optval, optlen);
-		else
-			err = -EINVAL;
+		err = tp->af_specific->md5_parse(sk, optval, optlen);
 		break;
 #endif
 	case TCP_USER_TIMEOUT: