diff --git a/src/slurmctld/node_mgr.c b/src/slurmctld/node_mgr.c
index d222a99d72b018fc93878c515ca6364564c0d320..1aaece79fb31790055bbf8f094b94aa826b1eb9b 100644
--- a/src/slurmctld/node_mgr.c
+++ b/src/slurmctld/node_mgr.c
@@ -1209,7 +1209,6 @@ void node_not_resp (char *name, time_t msg_time)
 	last_node_update = time (NULL);
 	error ("Node %s not responding", name);
 	bit_clear (avail_node_bitmap, i);
-	bit_clear (idle_node_bitmap, i);
 	node_ptr->node_state |= NODE_STATE_NO_RESPOND;
 	return;
 }