diff --git a/fs/xfs/libxfs/xfs_metafile.c b/fs/xfs/libxfs/xfs_metafile.c
index 71f004e9dc64..1f54d39003c2 100644
--- a/fs/xfs/libxfs/xfs_metafile.c
+++ b/fs/xfs/libxfs/xfs_metafile.c
@@ -297,14 +297,14 @@ xfs_metafile_resv_init(
 		goto out_unlock;
 
 	/*
-	 * Space taken by the per-AG metadata btrees are accounted on-disk as
-	 * used space.  We therefore only hide the space that is reserved but
-	 * not used by the trees.
+	 * Space taken by metadata btrees are accounted on-disk as used space.
+	 * We therefore only hide the space that is reserved but not used by
+	 * the trees.
 	 */
 	if (used > target)
 		target = used;
 	else if (target > dblocks_avail)
-		target = dblocks_avail;
+		target = max(dblocks_avail, used);
 	hidden_space = target - used;
 
 	error = xfs_dec_fdblocks(mp, hidden_space, true);