diff --git a/fs/btrfs/ctree.c b/fs/btrfs/ctree.c
index 531e0a8645b08..1e74cf8265327 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/ctree.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/ctree.c
@@ -1032,14 +1032,17 @@ static noinline int update_ref_for_cow(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans,
 		     root->root_key.objectid == BTRFS_TREE_RELOC_OBJECTID) &&
 		    !(flags & BTRFS_BLOCK_FLAG_FULL_BACKREF)) {
 			ret = btrfs_inc_ref(trans, root, buf, 1);
-			BUG_ON(ret); /* -ENOMEM */
+			if (ret)
+				return ret;
 
 			if (root->root_key.objectid ==
 			    BTRFS_TREE_RELOC_OBJECTID) {
 				ret = btrfs_dec_ref(trans, root, buf, 0);
-				BUG_ON(ret); /* -ENOMEM */
+				if (ret)
+					return ret;
 				ret = btrfs_inc_ref(trans, root, cow, 1);
-				BUG_ON(ret); /* -ENOMEM */
+				if (ret)
+					return ret;
 			}
 			new_flags |= BTRFS_BLOCK_FLAG_FULL_BACKREF;
 		} else {
@@ -1049,7 +1052,8 @@ static noinline int update_ref_for_cow(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans,
 				ret = btrfs_inc_ref(trans, root, cow, 1);
 			else
 				ret = btrfs_inc_ref(trans, root, cow, 0);
-			BUG_ON(ret); /* -ENOMEM */
+			if (ret)
+				return ret;
 		}
 		if (new_flags != 0) {
 			int level = btrfs_header_level(buf);
@@ -1068,9 +1072,11 @@ static noinline int update_ref_for_cow(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans,
 				ret = btrfs_inc_ref(trans, root, cow, 1);
 			else
 				ret = btrfs_inc_ref(trans, root, cow, 0);
-			BUG_ON(ret); /* -ENOMEM */
+			if (ret)
+				return ret;
 			ret = btrfs_dec_ref(trans, root, buf, 1);
-			BUG_ON(ret); /* -ENOMEM */
+			if (ret)
+				return ret;
 		}
 		clean_tree_block(fs_info, buf);
 		*last_ref = 1;