diff --git a/fs/btrfs/ioctl.c b/fs/btrfs/ioctl.c
index 8c656cb4295a..8516c70b5edc 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/ioctl.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/ioctl.c
@@ -780,6 +780,9 @@ static int create_snapshot(struct btrfs_root *root, struct inode *dir,
 		return -EOPNOTSUPP;
 	}
 
+	if (btrfs_root_refs(&root->root_item) == 0)
+		return -ENOENT;
+
 	if (!test_bit(BTRFS_ROOT_SHAREABLE, &root->state))
 		return -EINVAL;