diff --git a/fs/bcachefs/snapshot.c b/fs/bcachefs/snapshot.c
index 51918acfd726..961b5f56358c 100644
--- a/fs/bcachefs/snapshot.c
+++ b/fs/bcachefs/snapshot.c
@@ -1565,13 +1565,6 @@ int bch2_delete_dead_snapshots(struct bch_fs *c)
 	if (!test_and_clear_bit(BCH_FS_need_delete_dead_snapshots, &c->flags))
 		return 0;
 
-	if (!test_bit(BCH_FS_started, &c->flags)) {
-		ret = bch2_fs_read_write_early(c);
-		bch_err_msg(c, ret, "deleting dead snapshots: error going rw");
-		if (ret)
-			return ret;
-	}
-
 	trans = bch2_trans_get(c);
 
 	/*