diff --git a/fs/jbd2/journal.c b/fs/jbd2/journal.c
index bd23f2ebaa67..0f16edd51f67 100644
--- a/fs/jbd2/journal.c
+++ b/fs/jbd2/journal.c
@@ -1354,6 +1354,11 @@ static void jbd2_mark_journal_empty(journal_t *journal)
 
 	BUG_ON(!mutex_is_locked(&journal->j_checkpoint_mutex));
 	read_lock(&journal->j_state_lock);
+	/* Is it already empty? */
+	if (sb->s_start == 0) {
+		read_unlock(&journal->j_state_lock);
+		return;
+	}
 	jbd_debug(1, "JBD2: Marking journal as empty (seq %d)\n",
 		  journal->j_tail_sequence);