diff --git a/fs/btrfs/ctree.c b/fs/btrfs/ctree.c
index c8529b394d5f..bbb632291709 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/ctree.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/ctree.c
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ void btrfs_release_path(struct btrfs_root *root, struct btrfs_path *p)
 	memset(p, 0, sizeof(*p));
 }
 
-int btrfs_cow_block(struct btrfs_root *root,
+static int btrfs_cow_block(struct btrfs_root *root,
 		    struct btrfs_buffer *buf,
 		    struct btrfs_buffer *parent,
 		    int parent_slot,
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ int btrfs_leaf_free_space(struct btrfs_leaf *leaf)
 /*
  * compare two keys in a memcmp fashion
  */
-int comp_keys(struct btrfs_disk_key *disk, struct btrfs_key *k2)
+static int comp_keys(struct btrfs_disk_key *disk, struct btrfs_key *k2)
 {
 	struct btrfs_key k1;
 
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ int comp_keys(struct btrfs_disk_key *disk, struct btrfs_key *k2)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-int check_node(struct btrfs_path *path, int level)
+static int check_node(struct btrfs_path *path, int level)
 {
 	int i;
 	struct btrfs_node *parent = NULL;
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ int check_node(struct btrfs_path *path, int level)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-int check_leaf(struct btrfs_path *path, int level)
+static int check_leaf(struct btrfs_path *path, int level)
 {
 	int i;
 	struct btrfs_leaf *leaf = &path->nodes[level]->leaf;
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ int check_leaf(struct btrfs_path *path, int level)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-int check_block(struct btrfs_path *path, int level)
+static int check_block(struct btrfs_path *path, int level)
 {
 	if (level == 0)
 		return check_leaf(path, level);
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ int check_block(struct btrfs_path *path, int level)
  *
  * slot may point to max if the key is bigger than all of the keys
  */
-int generic_bin_search(char *p, int item_size, struct btrfs_key *key,
+static int generic_bin_search(char *p, int item_size, struct btrfs_key *key,
 		       int max, int *slot)
 {
 	int low = 0;
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ int generic_bin_search(char *p, int item_size, struct btrfs_key *key,
  * simple bin_search frontend that does the right thing for
  * leaves vs nodes
  */
-int bin_search(struct btrfs_node *c, struct btrfs_key *key, int *slot)
+static int bin_search(struct btrfs_node *c, struct btrfs_key *key, int *slot)
 {
 	if (btrfs_is_leaf(c)) {
 		struct btrfs_leaf *l = (struct btrfs_leaf *)c;
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ int bin_search(struct btrfs_node *c, struct btrfs_key *key, int *slot)
 	return -1;
 }
 
-struct btrfs_buffer *read_node_slot(struct btrfs_root *root,
+static struct btrfs_buffer *read_node_slot(struct btrfs_root *root,
 				   struct btrfs_buffer *parent_buf,
 				   int slot)
 {
diff --git a/fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c b/fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c
index 4a4f2d810d9f..a6969538bca2 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c
@@ -365,8 +365,9 @@ error:
  *
  * returns 0 if everything worked, non-zero otherwise.
  */
-int alloc_extent(struct btrfs_root *root, u64 num_blocks, u64 search_start,
-			 u64 search_end, u64 owner, struct btrfs_key *ins)
+static int alloc_extent(struct btrfs_root *root, u64 num_blocks,
+			u64 search_start, u64 search_end, u64 owner,
+			struct btrfs_key *ins)
 {
 	int ret;
 	int pending_ret;
@@ -425,7 +426,12 @@ struct btrfs_buffer *btrfs_alloc_free_block(struct btrfs_root *root)
 	return buf;
 }
 
-int walk_down_tree(struct btrfs_root *root, struct btrfs_path *path, int *level)
+/*
+ * helper function for drop_snapshot, this walks down the tree dropping ref
+ * counts as it goes.
+ */
+static int walk_down_tree(struct btrfs_root *root,
+			  struct btrfs_path *path, int *level)
 {
 	struct btrfs_buffer *next;
 	struct btrfs_buffer *cur;
@@ -437,6 +443,9 @@ int walk_down_tree(struct btrfs_root *root, struct btrfs_path *path, int *level)
 	BUG_ON(ret);
 	if (refs > 1)
 		goto out;
+	/*
+	 * walk down to the last node level and free all the leaves
+	 */
 	while(*level > 0) {
 		cur = path->nodes[*level];
 		if (path->slots[*level] >=
@@ -467,7 +476,13 @@ out:
 	return 0;
 }
 
-int walk_up_tree(struct btrfs_root *root, struct btrfs_path *path, int *level)
+/*
+ * helper for dropping snapshots.  This walks back up the tree in the path
+ * to find the first node higher up where we haven't yet gone through
+ * all the slots
+ */
+static int walk_up_tree(struct btrfs_root *root, struct btrfs_path *path,
+			int *level)
 {
 	int i;
 	int slot;
@@ -491,9 +506,15 @@ int walk_up_tree(struct btrfs_root *root, struct btrfs_path *path, int *level)
 	return 1;
 }
 
+/*
+ * drop the reference count on the tree rooted at 'snap'.  This traverses
+ * the tree freeing any blocks that have a ref count of zero after being
+ * decremented.
+ */
 int btrfs_drop_snapshot(struct btrfs_root *root, struct btrfs_buffer *snap)
 {
-	int ret;
+	int ret = 0;;
+	int wret;
 	int level;
 	struct btrfs_path path;
 	int i;
@@ -506,18 +527,22 @@ int btrfs_drop_snapshot(struct btrfs_root *root, struct btrfs_buffer *snap)
 	path.nodes[level] = snap;
 	path.slots[level] = 0;
 	while(1) {
-		ret = walk_down_tree(root, &path, &level);
-		if (ret > 0)
+		wret = walk_down_tree(root, &path, &level);
+		if (wret > 0)
 			break;
-		ret = walk_up_tree(root, &path, &level);
-		if (ret > 0)
+		if (wret < 0)
+			ret = wret;
+
+		wret = walk_up_tree(root, &path, &level);
+		if (wret > 0)
 			break;
+		if (wret < 0)
+			ret = wret;
 	}
 	for (i = 0; i <= orig_level; i++) {
 		if (path.nodes[i]) {
 			btrfs_block_release(root, path.nodes[i]);
 		}
 	}
-
-	return 0;
+	return ret;
 }