diff --git a/fs/btrfs/super.c b/fs/btrfs/super.c
index 574285c..9ea7114 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/super.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/super.c
@@ -360,6 +360,8 @@
 	 */
 	dir_id = btrfs_super_root_dir(&root->fs_info->super_copy);
 	di = btrfs_lookup_dir_item(NULL, root, path, dir_id, "default", 7, 0);
+	if (IS_ERR(di))
+		return ERR_CAST(di);
 	if (!di) {
 		/*
 		 * Ok the default dir item isn't there.  This is weird since