diff --git a/src/target/target.c b/src/target/target.c
index 8bb8d2bde..7e296b71d 100644
--- a/src/target/target.c
+++ b/src/target/target.c
@@ -733,15 +733,6 @@ static int no_mmu(struct target *target, int *enabled)
 	return ERROR_OK;
 }
 
-/**
- * Reset the @c examined flag for the given target.
- * Pure paranoia -- targets are zeroed on allocation.
- */
-static inline void target_reset_examined(struct target *target)
-{
-	target->examined = false;
-}
-
 static int default_examine(struct target *target)
 {
 	target_set_examined(target);
@@ -762,12 +753,10 @@ int target_examine_one(struct target *target)
 
 	int retval = target->type->examine(target);
 	if (retval != ERROR_OK) {
-		target_reset_examined(target);
 		target_call_event_callbacks(target, TARGET_EVENT_EXAMINE_FAIL);
 		return retval;
 	}
 
-	target_set_examined(target);
 	target_call_event_callbacks(target, TARGET_EVENT_EXAMINE_END);
 
 	return ERROR_OK;
@@ -1549,6 +1538,15 @@ static int target_profiling(struct target *target, uint32_t *samples,
 			num_samples, seconds);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Reset the @c examined flag for the given target.
+ * Pure paranoia -- targets are zeroed on allocation.
+ */
+static void target_reset_examined(struct target *target)
+{
+	target->examined = false;
+}
+
 static int handle_target(void *priv);
 
 static int target_init_one(struct command_context *cmd_ctx,
@@ -3080,7 +3078,7 @@ static int handle_target(void *priv)
 				/* Target examination could have failed due to unstable connection,
 				 * but we set the examined flag anyway to repoll it later */
 				if (retval != ERROR_OK) {
-					target_set_examined(target);
+					target->examined = true;
 					LOG_USER("Examination failed, GDB will be halted. Polling again in %dms",
 						 target->backoff.times * polling_interval);
 					return retval;
@@ -5742,13 +5740,8 @@ static int jim_target_examine(Jim_Interp *interp, int argc, Jim_Obj *const *argv
 	}
 
 	int e = target->type->examine(target);
-	if (e != ERROR_OK) {
-		target_reset_examined(target);
+	if (e != ERROR_OK)
 		return JIM_ERR;
-	}
-
-	target_set_examined(target);
-
 	return JIM_OK;
 }