diff --git a/cmds-scrub.c b/cmds-scrub.c
index 731c5c94..eb50d8a6 100644
--- a/cmds-scrub.c
+++ b/cmds-scrub.c
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ struct scrub_stats {
 	u64 duration;
 	u64 finished;
 	u64 canceled;
+	int in_progress;
 };
 
 /* TBD: replace with #include "linux/ioprio.h" in some years */
@@ -251,7 +252,11 @@ static void _print_scrub_ss(struct scrub_stats *ss)
 		printf(" and was aborted after %llu seconds\n",
 		       ss->duration);
 	} else {
-		printf(", running for %llu seconds\n", ss->duration);
+		if (ss->in_progress)
+			printf(", running for %llu seconds\n", ss->duration);
+		else
+			printf(", interrupted after %llu seconds, not running\n",
+					ss->duration);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -1057,6 +1062,28 @@ static int is_scrub_running_on_fs(struct btrfs_ioctl_fs_info_args *fi_args,
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int is_scrub_running_in_kernel(int fd,
+		struct btrfs_ioctl_dev_info_args *di_args, u64 max_devices)
+{
+	struct scrub_progress sp;
+	int i;
+	int ret;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < max_devices; i++) {
+		memset(&sp, 0, sizeof(sp));
+		sp.scrub_args.devid = di_args[i].devid;
+		ret = ioctl(fd, BTRFS_IOC_SCRUB_PROGRESS, &sp.scrub_args);
+		if (ret < 0 && errno == ENODEV)
+			continue;
+		if (ret < 0 && errno == ENOTCONN)
+			return 0;
+		if (!ret)
+			return 1;
+	}
+
+	return 1;
+}
+
 static const char * const cmd_scrub_start_usage[];
 static const char * const cmd_scrub_resume_usage[];
 
@@ -1205,6 +1232,13 @@ static int scrub_start(int argc, char **argv, int resume)
 		close(fdres);
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * Check for stale information in the status file, ie. if it's
+	 * canceled=0, finished=0 but no scrub is running.
+	 */
+	if (!is_scrub_running_in_kernel(fdmnt, di_args, fi_args.num_devices))
+		force = 1;
+
 	/*
 	 * check whether any involved device is already busy running a
 	 * scrub. This would cause damaged status messages and the state
@@ -1636,6 +1670,7 @@ static int cmd_scrub_status(int argc, char **argv)
 	struct sockaddr_un addr = {
 		.sun_family = AF_UNIX,
 	};
+	int in_progress;
 	int ret;
 	int i;
 	int fdmnt;
@@ -1725,6 +1760,7 @@ static int cmd_scrub_status(int argc, char **argv)
 			fprintf(stderr, "WARNING: failed to read status: %s\n",
 				strerror(-PTR_ERR(past_scrubs)));
 	}
+	in_progress = is_scrub_running_in_kernel(fdmnt, di_args, fi_args.num_devices);
 
 	printf("scrub status for %s\n", fsid);
 
@@ -1737,6 +1773,7 @@ static int cmd_scrub_status(int argc, char **argv)
 						NULL, NULL);
 				continue;
 			}
+			last_scrub->stats.in_progress = in_progress;
 			print_scrub_dev(&di_args[i], &last_scrub->p, print_raw,
 					last_scrub->stats.finished ?
 							"history" : "status",
@@ -1744,6 +1781,7 @@ static int cmd_scrub_status(int argc, char **argv)
 		}
 	} else {
 		init_fs_stat(&fs_stat);
+		fs_stat.s.in_progress = in_progress;
 		for (i = 0; i < fi_args.num_devices; ++i) {
 			last_scrub = last_dev_scrub(past_scrubs,
 							di_args[i].devid);