diff --git a/fs/btrfs/root-tree.c b/fs/btrfs/root-tree.c
index 3b17b647d002..612411c74550 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/root-tree.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/root-tree.c
@@ -376,11 +376,13 @@ int btrfs_del_root_ref(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans, u64 root_id,
 		leaf = path->nodes[0];
 		ref = btrfs_item_ptr(leaf, path->slots[0],
 				     struct btrfs_root_ref);
-
-		WARN_ON(btrfs_root_ref_dirid(leaf, ref) != dirid);
-		WARN_ON(btrfs_root_ref_name_len(leaf, ref) != name_len);
 		ptr = (unsigned long)(ref + 1);
-		WARN_ON(memcmp_extent_buffer(leaf, name, ptr, name_len));
+		if ((btrfs_root_ref_dirid(leaf, ref) != dirid) ||
+		    (btrfs_root_ref_name_len(leaf, ref) != name_len) ||
+		    memcmp_extent_buffer(leaf, name, ptr, name_len)) {
+			err = -ENOENT;
+			goto out;
+		}
 		*sequence = btrfs_root_ref_sequence(leaf, ref);
 
 		ret = btrfs_del_item(trans, tree_root, path);