Apparatus, method and program product for relocating Bad Block Relocation Directory (BBRD) on a disk storage pre-allocate a number of areas for BBRD in different locations of the disk storage. The locations for the BBRD are calculated based upon the size of the disk and BBRD count. If the update of BBRD fails due to defective media at the location to be updated, that location is abandon and the next pre-allocated location is used. A copy of the BBRD is stored in RAM and maintained by the kernel. By so doing, when a bad block in the BBRD is detected the kernel causes the BBRD to be written in a good one of the locations reserved for BBRD. When the number of alternate BBRD locations used hits a pre-defined threshold, this indicates a situation where many sections of the disk are going bad and the disk needs replacement. If all BBRD locations are used, the disk is presumed bad and all future I/O activities to the disk is suspended. An administrator may be notified that the disk is going bad and needs to be replaced.