diff --git a/src/fuse_removexattr.cpp b/src/fuse_removexattr.cpp
index e9b67c8f..793fc8ab 100644
--- a/src/fuse_removexattr.cpp
+++ b/src/fuse_removexattr.cpp
@@ -74,6 +74,8 @@ _removexattr(const Policy::Action &actionFunc_,
   rv = actionFunc_(ibranches_,fusepath_,obranches);
   if(rv < 0)
     return rv;
+  if(obranches.empty())
+    return -ENOENT;
 
   ::_removexattr_loop(obranches,fusepath_,attrname_,&prv);
   if(prv.errors.empty())