diff --git a/src/system/kernel/vm/vm_page.cpp b/src/system/kernel/vm/vm_page.cpp
index 4539f83869..367bd634c5 100644
--- a/src/system/kernel/vm/vm_page.cpp
+++ b/src/system/kernel/vm/vm_page.cpp
@@ -965,6 +965,11 @@ page_writer(void* /*unused*/)
 			}
 
 			InterruptsSpinLocker locker(sPageLock);
+
+			// state might have change while we were locking the cache
+			if (page->state != PAGE_STATE_MODIFIED)
+				continue;
+
 			remove_page_from_queue(&sModifiedPageQueue, page);
 			page->state = PAGE_STATE_BUSY;
 			page->busy_writing = true;