diff --git a/fs/bcachefs/fsck.c b/fs/bcachefs/fsck.c
index 36baff8409cd..8fa41b36f72d 100644
--- a/fs/bcachefs/fsck.c
+++ b/fs/bcachefs/fsck.c
@@ -1468,15 +1468,6 @@ int bch2_fsck_full(struct bch_fs *c)
 		check_inode_nlinks(c, &lostfound_inode);
 }
 
-int bch2_fsck_inode_nlink(struct bch_fs *c)
-{
-	struct bch_inode_unpacked root_inode, lostfound_inode;
-
-	return  check_root(c, &root_inode) ?:
-		check_lostfound(c, &root_inode, &lostfound_inode) ?:
-		check_inode_nlinks(c, &lostfound_inode);
-}
-
 int bch2_fsck_walk_inodes_only(struct bch_fs *c)
 {
 	struct btree_trans trans;
diff --git a/fs/bcachefs/fsck.h b/fs/bcachefs/fsck.h
index 9e4af02bde1e..264f2706b12d 100644
--- a/fs/bcachefs/fsck.h
+++ b/fs/bcachefs/fsck.h
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 #define _BCACHEFS_FSCK_H
 
 int bch2_fsck_full(struct bch_fs *);
-int bch2_fsck_inode_nlink(struct bch_fs *);
 int bch2_fsck_walk_inodes_only(struct bch_fs *);
 
 #endif /* _BCACHEFS_FSCK_H */
diff --git a/fs/bcachefs/recovery.c b/fs/bcachefs/recovery.c
index a3a6abb88d6f..24c0646913a8 100644
--- a/fs/bcachefs/recovery.c
+++ b/fs/bcachefs/recovery.c
@@ -1005,6 +1005,13 @@ int bch2_fs_recovery(struct bch_fs *c)
 
 	}
 
+	if (!c->sb.clean &&
+	    !(c->sb.features & (1 << BCH_FEATURE_atomic_nlink))) {
+		bch_info(c, "BCH_FEATURE_atomic_nlink not set and filesystem dirty, fsck required");
+		c->opts.fsck = true;
+		c->opts.fix_errors = FSCK_OPT_YES;
+	}
+
 	if (!(c->sb.features & (1ULL << BCH_FEATURE_alloc_v2))) {
 		bch_info(c, "alloc_v2 feature bit not set, fsck required");
 		c->opts.fsck = true;
@@ -1181,25 +1188,6 @@ use_clean:
 		bch_verbose(c, "alloc write done");
 	}
 
-	if (!c->sb.clean) {
-		if (!(c->sb.features & (1 << BCH_FEATURE_atomic_nlink))) {
-			bch_info(c, "checking inode link counts");
-			err = "error in recovery";
-			ret = bch2_fsck_inode_nlink(c);
-			if (ret)
-				goto err;
-			bch_verbose(c, "check inodes done");
-
-		} else {
-			bch_verbose(c, "checking for deleted inodes");
-			err = "error in recovery";
-			ret = bch2_fsck_walk_inodes_only(c);
-			if (ret)
-				goto err;
-			bch_verbose(c, "check inodes done");
-		}
-	}
-
 	if (c->opts.fsck) {
 		bch_info(c, "starting fsck");
 		err = "error in fsck";
@@ -1207,6 +1195,13 @@ use_clean:
 		if (ret)
 			goto err;
 		bch_verbose(c, "fsck done");
+	} else if (!c->sb.clean) {
+		bch_verbose(c, "checking for deleted inodes");
+		err = "error in recovery";
+		ret = bch2_fsck_walk_inodes_only(c);
+		if (ret)
+			goto err;
+		bch_verbose(c, "check inodes done");
 	}
 
 	if (enabled_qtypes(c)) {