diff --git a/cmd/ztest/ztest.c b/cmd/ztest/ztest.c
index 983bc0dfe..14e8a5e27 100644
--- a/cmd/ztest/ztest.c
+++ b/cmd/ztest/ztest.c
@@ -3549,6 +3549,15 @@ ztest_device_removal(ztest_ds_t *zd, uint64_t id)
 		ztest_device_removal_active = B_TRUE;
 		mutex_exit(&ztest_vdev_lock);
 
+		/*
+		 * spa->spa_vdev_removal is created in a sync task that
+		 * is initiated via dsl_sync_task_nowait(). Since the
+		 * task may not run before spa_vdev_remove() returns, we
+		 * must wait at least 1 txg to ensure that the removal
+		 * struct has been created.
+		 */
+		txg_wait_synced(spa_get_dsl(spa), 0);
+
 		while (spa->spa_vdev_removal != NULL)
 			txg_wait_synced(spa_get_dsl(spa), 0);
 	} else {