diff --git a/mkfs/rootdir.c b/mkfs/rootdir.c
index ff00bb0f..834aacc0 100644
--- a/mkfs/rootdir.c
+++ b/mkfs/rootdir.c
@@ -553,6 +553,7 @@ static int traverse_directory(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans,
 						(unsigned long)st.st_nlink);
 					goto fail;
 				}
+				ret = 0;
 				continue;
 			}
 			if (ret) {