diff --git a/fs/btrfs/root-tree.c b/fs/btrfs/root-tree.c
index db37a3799649..e9e8ca4e98a7 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/root-tree.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/root-tree.c
@@ -336,9 +336,10 @@ int btrfs_del_root_ref(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans, u64 root_id,
 	key.offset = ref_id;
 again:
 	ret = btrfs_search_slot(trans, tree_root, &key, path, -1, 1);
-	if (ret < 0)
+	if (ret < 0) {
+		err = ret;
 		goto out;
-	if (ret == 0) {
+	} else if (ret == 0) {
 		leaf = path->nodes[0];
 		ref = btrfs_item_ptr(leaf, path->slots[0],
 				     struct btrfs_root_ref);