diff --git a/fs/bcachefs/btree_iter.c b/fs/bcachefs/btree_iter.c
index 0883cf6e1a3e..e8dd1aaa7491 100644
--- a/fs/bcachefs/btree_iter.c
+++ b/fs/bcachefs/btree_iter.c
@@ -882,6 +882,8 @@ static noinline int btree_node_iter_and_journal_peek(struct btree_trans *trans,
 	__bch2_btree_and_journal_iter_init_node_iter(trans, &jiter, l->b, l->iter, path->pos);
 
 	k = bch2_btree_and_journal_iter_peek(&jiter);
+	if (!k.k)
+		return -BCH_ERR_invalid_bkey;
 
 	bch2_bkey_buf_reassemble(out, c, k);