diff --git a/fs/btrfs/ctree.h b/fs/btrfs/ctree.h
index 7efa1edb30cd..f92f97304e69 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/ctree.h
+++ b/fs/btrfs/ctree.h
@@ -1075,6 +1075,10 @@ struct btrfs_fs_info {
 	atomic_t scrubs_paused;
 	atomic_t scrub_cancel_req;
 	wait_queue_head_t scrub_pause_wait;
+	/*
+	 * The worker pointers are NULL iff the refcount is 0, ie. scrub is not
+	 * running.
+	 */
 	refcount_t scrub_workers_refcnt;
 	struct btrfs_workqueue *scrub_workers;
 	struct btrfs_workqueue *scrub_wr_completion_workers;
diff --git a/fs/btrfs/scrub.c b/fs/btrfs/scrub.c
index d20150d68a90..669bedfec4a9 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/scrub.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/scrub.c
@@ -3744,17 +3744,20 @@ static noinline_for_stack int scrub_workers_get(struct btrfs_fs_info *fs_info,
 	lockdep_assert_held(&fs_info->scrub_lock);
 
 	if (refcount_read(&fs_info->scrub_workers_refcnt) == 0) {
+		ASSERT(fs_info->scrub_workers == NULL);
 		fs_info->scrub_workers = btrfs_alloc_workqueue(fs_info, "scrub",
 				flags, is_dev_replace ? 1 : max_active, 4);
 		if (!fs_info->scrub_workers)
 			goto fail_scrub_workers;
 
+		ASSERT(fs_info->scrub_wr_completion_workers == NULL);
 		fs_info->scrub_wr_completion_workers =
 			btrfs_alloc_workqueue(fs_info, "scrubwrc", flags,
 					      max_active, 2);
 		if (!fs_info->scrub_wr_completion_workers)
 			goto fail_scrub_wr_completion_workers;
 
+		ASSERT(fs_info->scrub_parity_workers == NULL);
 		fs_info->scrub_parity_workers =
 			btrfs_alloc_workqueue(fs_info, "scrubparity", flags,
 					      max_active, 2);
@@ -3934,6 +3937,10 @@ int btrfs_scrub_dev(struct btrfs_fs_info *fs_info, u64 devid, u64 start,
 		scrub_workers = fs_info->scrub_workers;
 		scrub_wr_comp = fs_info->scrub_wr_completion_workers;
 		scrub_parity = fs_info->scrub_parity_workers;
+
+		fs_info->scrub_workers = NULL;
+		fs_info->scrub_wr_completion_workers = NULL;
+		fs_info->scrub_parity_workers = NULL;
 	}
 	mutex_unlock(&fs_info->scrub_lock);