diff --git a/fs/btrfs/transaction.c b/fs/btrfs/transaction.c
index af2f2f8704d8..8daa9e4eb1d2 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/transaction.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/transaction.c
@@ -1382,8 +1382,10 @@ int btrfs_defrag_root(struct btrfs_root *root)
 
 	while (1) {
 		trans = btrfs_start_transaction(root, 0);
-		if (IS_ERR(trans))
-			return PTR_ERR(trans);
+		if (IS_ERR(trans)) {
+			ret = PTR_ERR(trans);
+			break;
+		}
 
 		ret = btrfs_defrag_leaves(trans, root);