diff --git a/fs/btrfs/ioctl.c b/fs/btrfs/ioctl.c
index 00424d3f34640dcfa98ed87dd48ae0f1a22b8d67..178e49bd0060787d9217c96bdf0c7f163c077fec 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/ioctl.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/ioctl.c
@@ -768,6 +768,9 @@ static int create_snapshot(struct btrfs_root *root, struct inode *dir,
 	int ret;
 	bool snapshot_force_cow = false;
 
+	if (btrfs_root_refs(&root->root_item) == 0)
+		return -ENOENT;
+
 	if (!test_bit(BTRFS_ROOT_REF_COWS, &root->state))
 		return -EINVAL;