diff --git a/fs/jfs/jfs_txnmgr.c b/fs/jfs/jfs_txnmgr.c
index 224ef034004b..2cb460912468 100644
--- a/fs/jfs/jfs_txnmgr.c
+++ b/fs/jfs/jfs_txnmgr.c
@@ -367,6 +367,11 @@ tid_t txBegin(struct super_block *sb, int flag)
 	jfs_info("txBegin: flag = 0x%x", flag);
 	log = JFS_SBI(sb)->log;
 
+	if (!log) {
+		jfs_error(sb, "read-only filesystem\n");
+		return 0;
+	}
+
 	TXN_LOCK();
 
 	INCREMENT(TxStat.txBegin);