diff --git a/fs/bcachefs/btree_gc.c b/fs/bcachefs/btree_gc.c
index 6280da1244b5..a1c2c0ffb0cc 100644
--- a/fs/bcachefs/btree_gc.c
+++ b/fs/bcachefs/btree_gc.c
@@ -544,12 +544,12 @@ int bch2_check_topology(struct bch_fs *c)
 				bch2_btree_root_alloc_fake(c, i, 0);
 			} else {
 				bch2_btree_root_alloc_fake(c, i, 1);
+				bch2_shoot_down_journal_keys(c, i, 1, BTREE_MAX_DEPTH, POS_MIN, SPOS_MAX);
 				ret = bch2_get_scanned_nodes(c, i, 0, POS_MIN, SPOS_MAX);
 				if (ret)
 					break;
 			}
 
-			bch2_shoot_down_journal_keys(c, i, 1, BTREE_MAX_DEPTH, POS_MIN, SPOS_MAX);
 			reconstructed_root = true;
 		}