diff --git a/src/lib/controllib/BlockDerivative.hpp b/src/lib/controllib/BlockDerivative.hpp
index 72d9aea412..637c23ca53 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 3ffbd23420..e9709087c0 100644
--- a/src/modules/mc_pos_control/mc_pos_control_main.cpp
+++ b/src/modules/mc_pos_control/mc_pos_control_main.cpp
@@ -702,6 +702,12 @@ MulticopterPositionControl::Run()
 			}
 
 			_old_landing_gear_position = gear.landing_gear;
+
+		} else {
+			// 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();
 		}
 	}