diff --git a/fs/btrfs/tree-checker.c b/fs/btrfs/tree-checker.c
index cf9b10a07134..31756bac75b4 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/tree-checker.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/tree-checker.c
@@ -456,9 +456,22 @@ static int check_leaf(struct btrfs_root *root, struct extent_buffer *leaf,
 	 * skip this check for relocation trees.
 	 */
 	if (nritems == 0 && !btrfs_header_flag(leaf, BTRFS_HEADER_FLAG_RELOC)) {
+		u64 owner = btrfs_header_owner(leaf);
 		struct btrfs_root *check_root;
 
-		key.objectid = btrfs_header_owner(leaf);
+		/* These trees must never be empty */
+		if (owner == BTRFS_ROOT_TREE_OBJECTID ||
+		    owner == BTRFS_CHUNK_TREE_OBJECTID ||
+		    owner == BTRFS_EXTENT_TREE_OBJECTID ||
+		    owner == BTRFS_DEV_TREE_OBJECTID ||
+		    owner == BTRFS_FS_TREE_OBJECTID ||
+		    owner == BTRFS_DATA_RELOC_TREE_OBJECTID) {
+			generic_err(root, leaf, 0,
+			"invalid root, root %llu must never be empty",
+				    owner);
+			return -EUCLEAN;
+		}
+		key.objectid = owner;
 		key.type = BTRFS_ROOT_ITEM_KEY;
 		key.offset = (u64)-1;