diff --git a/check/main.c b/check/main.c
index 3de997e4..40056f50 100644
--- a/check/main.c
+++ b/check/main.c
@@ -4051,6 +4051,11 @@ static int try_to_fix_bad_block(struct btrfs_root *root,
 
 	btrfs_init_path(&path);
 	ULIST_ITER_INIT(&iter);
+	/*
+	 * If we found no roots referrening to this tree block, there is no
+	 * chance to fix. So our default ret is -EIO.
+	 */
+	ret = -EIO;
 	while ((node = ulist_next(roots, &iter))) {
 		root_key.objectid = node->val;
 		root_key.type = BTRFS_ROOT_ITEM_KEY;