diff --git a/fs/btrfs/ref-verify.c b/fs/btrfs/ref-verify.c
index cf531255ab76..9522a8b79d22 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/ref-verify.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/ref-verify.c
@@ -441,7 +441,8 @@ static int process_extent_item(struct btrfs_fs_info *fs_info,
 	u32 item_size = btrfs_item_size(leaf, slot);
 	unsigned long end, ptr;
 	u64 offset, flags, count;
-	int type, ret;
+	int type;
+	int ret = 0;
 
 	ei = btrfs_item_ptr(leaf, slot, struct btrfs_extent_item);
 	flags = btrfs_extent_flags(leaf, ei);
@@ -486,7 +487,11 @@ static int process_extent_item(struct btrfs_fs_info *fs_info,
 						  key->objectid, key->offset);
 			break;
 		case BTRFS_EXTENT_OWNER_REF_KEY:
-			WARN_ON(!btrfs_fs_incompat(fs_info, SIMPLE_QUOTA));
+			if (!btrfs_fs_incompat(fs_info, SIMPLE_QUOTA)) {
+				btrfs_err(fs_info,
+			  "found extent owner ref without simple quotas enabled");
+				ret = -EINVAL;
+			}
 			break;
 		default:
 			btrfs_err(fs_info, "invalid key type in iref");