diff --git a/src/fuse_chown.cpp b/src/fuse_chown.cpp
index 4f70f1fc..74170a9b 100644
--- a/src/fuse_chown.cpp
+++ b/src/fuse_chown.cpp
@@ -92,6 +92,8 @@ _chown(const Policy::Action &actionFunc_,
   rv = searchFunc_(branches_,fusepath_,branches);
   if(rv < 0)
     return rv;
+  if(branches.empty())
+    return -ENOENT;
 
   return prv.get_error(branches[0]->path);
 }