diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/INodeDirectory.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/INodeDirectory.java
index b592c3ff896..85d5a45344a 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/INodeDirectory.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/INodeDirectory.java
@@ -841,7 +841,8 @@ public class INodeDirectory extends INodeWithAdditionalFields
       // If the inode has empty diff list and sf is not a
       // DirectorySnapshottableFeature, remove the feature to save heap.
       if (sf.getDiffs().isEmpty() &&
-          !(sf instanceof DirectorySnapshottableFeature)) {
+          !(sf instanceof DirectorySnapshottableFeature) &&
+          getDirectoryWithSnapshotFeature() != null) {
         this.removeFeature(sf);
       }
     } else {