diff --git a/check/qgroup-verify.c b/check/qgroup-verify.c
index 685370d6..1fcc3eb4 100644
--- a/check/qgroup-verify.c
+++ b/check/qgroup-verify.c
@@ -743,7 +743,8 @@ static int travel_tree(struct btrfs_fs_info *info, struct btrfs_root *root,
 	 */
 	nr = btrfs_header_nritems(eb);
 	for (i = 0; i < nr; i++) {
-		(*qgroup_item_count)++;
+		if (qgroup_item_count)
+			(*qgroup_item_count)++;
 		new_bytenr = btrfs_node_blockptr(eb, i);
 		new_num_bytes = info->nodesize;