diff --git a/fs/btrfs/inode.c b/fs/btrfs/inode.c
index 909f7ea92e0b..7e288510fd2c 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/inode.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/inode.c
@@ -6594,14 +6594,19 @@ fail_dir_item:
 		err = btrfs_del_root_ref(trans, fs_info, key.objectid,
 					 root->root_key.objectid, parent_ino,
 					 &local_index, name, name_len);
-
+		if (err)
+			btrfs_abort_transaction(trans, err);
 	} else if (add_backref) {
 		u64 local_index;
 		int err;
 
 		err = btrfs_del_inode_ref(trans, root, name, name_len,
 					  ino, parent_ino, &local_index);
+		if (err)
+			btrfs_abort_transaction(trans, err);
 	}
+
+	/* Return the original error code */
 	return ret;
 }