diff --git a/fs/btrfs/transaction.c b/fs/btrfs/transaction.c
index fa8f56e6f665..a066ad581976 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/transaction.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/transaction.c
@@ -1948,6 +1948,14 @@ int btrfs_commit_transaction(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans)
 	struct btrfs_transaction *prev_trans = NULL;
 	int ret;
 
+	/*
+	 * Some places just start a transaction to commit it.  We need to make
+	 * sure that if this commit fails that the abort code actually marks the
+	 * transaction as failed, so set trans->dirty to make the abort code do
+	 * the right thing.
+	 */
+	trans->dirty = true;
+
 	/* Stop the commit early if ->aborted is set */
 	if (unlikely(READ_ONCE(cur_trans->aborted))) {
 		ret = cur_trans->aborted;