diff --git a/fs/btrfs/tree-log.c b/fs/btrfs/tree-log.c
index 44966fd007907..c03891f9d96e0 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/tree-log.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/tree-log.c
@@ -3016,9 +3016,12 @@ static void free_log_tree(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans,
 	};
 
 	ret = walk_log_tree(trans, log, &wc);
-	/* I don't think this can happen but just in case */
-	if (ret)
-		btrfs_abort_transaction(trans, ret);
+	if (ret) {
+		if (trans)
+			btrfs_abort_transaction(trans, ret);
+		else
+			btrfs_handle_fs_error(log->fs_info, ret, NULL);
+	}
 
 	while (1) {
 		ret = find_first_extent_bit(&log->dirty_log_pages,