diff --git a/fs/btrfs/inode.c b/fs/btrfs/inode.c
index 6e03e7991a5d..d722a30b0b74 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/inode.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/inode.c
@@ -4531,7 +4531,7 @@ static int btrfs_rmdir(struct inode *dir, struct dentry *dentry)
 	if (inode->i_size > BTRFS_EMPTY_DIR_SIZE)
 		return -ENOTEMPTY;
 	if (btrfs_ino(BTRFS_I(inode)) == BTRFS_FIRST_FREE_OBJECTID)
-		return -EPERM;
+		return btrfs_delete_subvolume(dir, dentry);
 
 	trans = __unlink_start_trans(dir);
 	if (IS_ERR(trans))