diff --git a/opm/simulators/wells/WellState.cpp b/opm/simulators/wells/WellState.cpp
index 3aca9016f..3b2870bc9 100644
--- a/opm/simulators/wells/WellState.cpp
+++ b/opm/simulators/wells/WellState.cpp
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ void WellState<Scalar>::init(const std::vector<Scalar>& cellPressures,
                                                                 report_step,
                                                                 wells_ecl);
     well_rates.clear();
-    this->inactive_well_names_ = schedule.getInactiveWellNamesAtEnd();
+    this->permanently_inactive_well_names_ = schedule.getInactiveWellNamesAtEnd();
     for (const auto& wname : schedule.wellNames(report_step))
     {
         well_rates.insert({wname, std::make_pair(false, std::vector<Scalar>(this->numPhases()))});
@@ -695,6 +695,9 @@ void WellState<Scalar>::initWellStateMSWell(const std::vector<Well>& wells_ecl,
     // what we do here, is to set the segment rates and perforation rates
     for (int w = 0; w < nw; ++w) {
         const auto& well_ecl = wells_ecl[w];
+        if (this->is_permanently_inactive_well(well_ecl.name()))
+            continue;
+
         auto& ws = this->well(w);
 
         if (well_ecl.isMultiSegment()) {
@@ -725,14 +728,9 @@ void WellState<Scalar>::initWellStateMSWell(const std::vector<Well>& wells_ecl,
                     n_activeperf++;
                 }
             }
-            // If perf_data does not contain all active perfs, the well is distributed or inactive
-            // For inactive wells there is no need for calculating an initial solution
-            // \todo{ Update the procedure below to work for actually distributed wells. }
+            
             if (static_cast<int>(ws.perf_data.size()) != n_activeperf)
-                if (this->is_inactive_well(well_ecl.name()))
-                    continue;
-                else
-                    throw std::logic_error("Distributed multi-segment wells cannot be initialized properly yet.");
+                throw std::logic_error("Distributed multi-segment wells cannot be initialized properly yet.");
 
 
             std::vector<std::vector<int>> segment_inlets(well_nseg);
@@ -1061,7 +1059,7 @@ bool WellState<Scalar>::operator==(const WellState& rhs) const
     return this->alq_state == rhs.alq_state &&
            this->well_rates == rhs.well_rates &&
            this->wells_ == rhs.wells_ &&
-           this->inactive_well_names_ == rhs.inactive_well_names_;
+           this->permanently_inactive_well_names_ == rhs.permanently_inactive_well_names_;
 }
 
 template<class Scalar>
diff --git a/opm/simulators/wells/WellState.hpp b/opm/simulators/wells/WellState.hpp
index 56c1ba550..d6d085234 100644
--- a/opm/simulators/wells/WellState.hpp
+++ b/opm/simulators/wells/WellState.hpp
@@ -348,12 +348,12 @@ public:
         for (auto& w : wells_) {
             serializer(w);
         }
-        serializer(inactive_well_names_);
+        serializer(permanently_inactive_well_names_);
     }
 
 private:
-    bool is_inactive_well(const std::string& wname) const {
-        return std::find(this->inactive_well_names_.begin(), this->inactive_well_names_.end(), wname) != this->inactive_well_names_.end();
+    bool is_permanently_inactive_well(const std::string& wname) const {
+        return std::find(this->permanently_inactive_well_names_.begin(), this->permanently_inactive_well_names_.end(), wname) != this->permanently_inactive_well_names_.end();
     }
 
     PhaseUsage phase_usage_;
@@ -377,8 +377,8 @@ private:
     // not.
     std::map<std::string, std::pair<bool, std::vector<Scalar>>> well_rates;
 
-    // Keep track of inactive well names
-    std::vector<std::string> inactive_well_names_;
+    // Keep track of permanently inactive well names
+    std::vector<std::string> permanently_inactive_well_names_;
 
     data::Segment
     reportSegmentResults(const int         well_id,