diff --git a/src/fuse_removexattr.cpp b/src/fuse_removexattr.cpp
index 793fc8ab..524c283e 100644
--- a/src/fuse_removexattr.cpp
+++ b/src/fuse_removexattr.cpp
@@ -87,6 +87,8 @@ _removexattr(const Policy::Action &actionFunc_,
   rv = searchFunc_(ibranches_,fusepath_,obranches);
   if(rv < 0)
     return rv;
+  if(obranches.empty())
+    return -ENOENT;
 
   return prv.get_error(obranches[0]->path);
 }