diff --git a/fs/btrfs/ioctl.c b/fs/btrfs/ioctl.c
index 3ad5c10d3704bc4f621398b2c5f726ee9746471a..10c18a6582cc7e30706aa3765dfde70fe42e7dee 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/ioctl.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/ioctl.c
@@ -1858,7 +1858,9 @@ static noinline int may_destroy_subvol(struct btrfs_root *root)
 	if (di && !IS_ERR(di)) {
 		btrfs_dir_item_key_to_cpu(path->nodes[0], di, &key);
 		if (key.objectid == root->root_key.objectid) {
-			ret = -ENOTEMPTY;
+			ret = -EPERM;
+			btrfs_err(root->fs_info, "deleting default subvolume "
+				  "%llu is not allowed", key.objectid);
 			goto out;
 		}
 		btrfs_release_path(path);