diff --git a/fs/btrfs/ctree.c b/fs/btrfs/ctree.c
index 89eeca5bb23e..80403910b3ea 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/ctree.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/ctree.c
@@ -279,9 +279,10 @@ int btrfs_copy_root(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans,
 		ret = btrfs_inc_ref(trans, root, cow, 1);
 	else
 		ret = btrfs_inc_ref(trans, root, cow, 0);
-
-	if (ret)
+	if (ret) {
+		btrfs_abort_transaction(trans, ret);
 		return ret;
+	}
 
 	btrfs_mark_buffer_dirty(cow);
 	*cow_ret = cow;