diff --git a/src/fu-device-list.c b/src/fu-device-list.c
index 09b552f7f..b5b2ae31f 100644
--- a/src/fu-device-list.c
+++ b/src/fu-device-list.c
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ fu_device_list_remove (FuDeviceList *self, FuDevice *device)
 	if (fu_device_get_remove_delay (item->device) > 0) {
 
 		/* we can't do anything with an unconnected device */
-		fu_device_set_flags (item->device, FWUPD_DEVICE_FLAG_NONE);
+		fu_device_remove_flag (item->device, FWUPD_DEVICE_FLAG_UPDATABLE);
 
 		/* give the hardware time to re-enumerate or the user time to
 		 * re-insert the device with a magic button pressed */