diff --git a/fs/btrfs/relocation.c b/fs/btrfs/relocation.c
index 976917ca412a..a257147db7a9 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/relocation.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/relocation.c
@@ -4351,10 +4351,14 @@ struct inode *create_reloc_inode(struct btrfs_fs_info *fs_info,
 	root = read_fs_root(fs_info, BTRFS_DATA_RELOC_TREE_OBJECTID);
 	if (IS_ERR(root))
 		return ERR_CAST(root);
+	if (!btrfs_grab_fs_root(root))
+		return ERR_PTR(-ENOENT);
 
 	trans = btrfs_start_transaction(root, 6);
-	if (IS_ERR(trans))
+	if (IS_ERR(trans)) {
+		btrfs_put_fs_root(root);
 		return ERR_CAST(trans);
+	}
 
 	err = btrfs_find_free_objectid(root, &objectid);
 	if (err)
@@ -4372,6 +4376,7 @@ struct inode *create_reloc_inode(struct btrfs_fs_info *fs_info,
 
 	err = btrfs_orphan_add(trans, BTRFS_I(inode));
 out:
+	btrfs_put_fs_root(root);
 	btrfs_end_transaction(trans);
 	btrfs_btree_balance_dirty(fs_info);
 	if (err) {