diff --git a/fs/btrfs/ioctl.c b/fs/btrfs/ioctl.c
index 04b4fb9144a9..12dabe28cf54 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/ioctl.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/ioctl.c
@@ -2085,7 +2085,7 @@ static long btrfs_ioctl_trans_start(struct file *file)
 
 	ret = -ENOMEM;
 	trans = btrfs_start_ioctl_transaction(root, 0);
-	if (!trans)
+	if (IS_ERR(trans))
 		goto out_drop;
 
 	file->private_data = trans;