diff --git a/src/basic/btrfs-util.c b/src/basic/btrfs-util.c
index 77e9d90917..7720d98009 100644
--- a/src/basic/btrfs-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/btrfs-util.c
@@ -1690,7 +1690,7 @@ int btrfs_subvol_snapshot_fd(int old_fd, const char *new_path, BtrfsSnapshotFlag
                 if (r == -ENOTTY && (flags & BTRFS_SNAPSHOT_FALLBACK_DIRECTORY)) {
                         /* If the destination doesn't support subvolumes, then use a plain directory, if that's requested. */
                         if (mkdir(new_path, 0755) < 0)
-                                return r;
+                                return -errno;
 
                         plain_directory = true;
                 } else if (r < 0)