diff --git a/src/lib/controllib/BlockDerivative.hpp b/src/lib/controllib/BlockDerivative.hpp
index e7879c3dd2..1b8ed26a06 100644
--- a/src/lib/controllib/BlockDerivative.hpp
+++ b/src/lib/controllib/BlockDerivative.hpp
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ public:
 	float update(float input);
 // accessors
 	void setU(float u) {_u = u;}
+	void reset() { _initialized = false; };
 	float getU() {return _u;}
 	float getLP() {return _lowPass.getFCut();}
 	float getO() { return _lowPass.getState(); }
diff --git a/src/modules/mc_pos_control/mc_pos_control_main.cpp b/src/modules/mc_pos_control/mc_pos_control_main.cpp
index c0bfbd8f82..6486aaf2f6 100644
--- a/src/modules/mc_pos_control/mc_pos_control_main.cpp
+++ b/src/modules/mc_pos_control/mc_pos_control_main.cpp
@@ -731,6 +731,11 @@ MulticopterPositionControl::Run()
 			q_sp.copyTo(_att_sp.q_d);
 			_att_sp.q_d_valid = true;
 			_att_sp.thrust_body[2] = 0.0f;
+
+			// reset the numerical derivatives to not generate d term spikes when coming from non-position controlled operation
+			_vel_x_deriv.reset();
+			_vel_y_deriv.reset();
+			_vel_z_deriv.reset();
 		}
 	}