diff --git a/client/my-sites/migrate/section-migrate.jsx b/client/my-sites/migrate/section-migrate.jsx
index 4965faadbe0900..495075626807a0 100644
--- a/client/my-sites/migrate/section-migrate.jsx
+++ b/client/my-sites/migrate/section-migrate.jsx
@@ -98,6 +98,8 @@ class SectionMigrate extends Component {
 			return;
 		}
 
+		this.setMigrationState( { migrationStatus: 'backing-up' } );
+
 		wpcom
 			.startMigration( sourceSiteId, targetSiteId )
 			.then( () => this.updateFromAPI() )
diff --git a/client/state/selectors/is-site-migration-in-progress.js b/client/state/selectors/is-site-migration-in-progress.js
index 4b40fbe651eb7b..b4f8c6928abfca 100644
--- a/client/state/selectors/is-site-migration-in-progress.js
+++ b/client/state/selectors/is-site-migration-in-progress.js
@@ -5,7 +5,10 @@
 import getSiteMigrationStatus from 'state/selectors/get-site-migration-status';
 
 /**
- * Returns true if the site is the target of an active migration
+ * Returns true if the site is the target of an active migration.
+ * Possible migration statuses: inactive, backing-up, restoring, error, done.
+ * We regard 'error' as 'in progress' – the user needs to dismiss that
+ * state.
  *
  * @param {object} state Global state tree
  * @param {object} siteId Site ID
@@ -14,5 +17,5 @@ import getSiteMigrationStatus from 'state/selectors/get-site-migration-status';
 export default function isSiteMigrationInProgress( state, siteId ) {
 	const migrationStatus = getSiteMigrationStatus( state, siteId );
 
-	return migrationStatus !== 'inactive';
+	return migrationStatus !== 'inactive' && migrationStatus !== 'done';
 }