diff --git a/src/defrag.c b/src/defrag.c
index a6fd9549c..4131d3349 100644
--- a/src/defrag.c
+++ b/src/defrag.c
@@ -1060,9 +1060,7 @@ void computeDefragCycles() {
             server.active_defrag_cycle_max);
      /* We allow increasing the aggressiveness during a scan, but don't
       * reduce it. */
-    if (!server.active_defrag_running ||
-        cpu_pct > server.active_defrag_running)
-    {
+    if (cpu_pct > server.active_defrag_running) {
         server.active_defrag_running = cpu_pct;
         serverLog(LL_VERBOSE,
             "Starting active defrag, frag=%.0f%%, frag_bytes=%zu, cpu=%d%%",