diff --git a/fs/btrfs/send.c b/fs/btrfs/send.c
index a86c049932f9..15cdc67ce9ad 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/send.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/send.c
@@ -1628,6 +1628,10 @@ static int lookup_dir_item_inode(struct btrfs_root *root,
 		goto out;
 	}
 	btrfs_dir_item_key_to_cpu(path->nodes[0], di, &key);
+	if (key.type == BTRFS_ROOT_ITEM_KEY) {
+		ret = -ENOENT;
+		goto out;
+	}
 	*found_inode = key.objectid;
 	*found_type = btrfs_dir_type(path->nodes[0], di);