diff --git a/fs/btrfs/send.c b/fs/btrfs/send.c
index e3b6ca9176af..2840abf2037b 100644
--- a/fs/btrfs/send.c
+++ b/fs/btrfs/send.c
@@ -677,7 +677,12 @@ static int begin_cmd(struct send_ctx *sctx, int cmd)
 	if (WARN_ON(!sctx->send_buf))
 		return -EINVAL;
 
-	BUG_ON(sctx->send_size);
+	if (unlikely(sctx->send_size != 0)) {
+		btrfs_err(sctx->send_root->fs_info,
+			  "send: command header buffer not empty cmd %d offset %llu",
+			  cmd, sctx->send_off);
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
 
 	sctx->send_size += sizeof(*hdr);
 	hdr = (struct btrfs_cmd_header *)sctx->send_buf;