diff --git a/fs/btrfs/inode.c b/fs/btrfs/inode.c
index d999c538cdc2..f08427c70a78 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/inode.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/inode.c
@@ -2673,7 +2673,7 @@ static int check_path_shared(struct btrfs_root *root,
 	struct extent_buffer *eb;
 	int level;
 	int ret;
-	u64 refs;
+	u64 refs = 1;
 
 	for (level = 0; level < BTRFS_MAX_LEVEL; level++) {
 		if (!path->nodes[level])